Relief Therapeutics Appoints Serene Forte, Ph.D., MPH, as Senior Vice President, Head of Genetic Medicine

Relief Therapeutics Appoints Serene Forte, Ph.D., MPH, as Senior Vice President, Head of Genetic Medicine

Experienced Leader in Commercial and Medical Affairs, With a Focus on Gene Therapy, to Spearhead Relief’s New Strategic Foray Into Genetic Medicine

Geneva, Switzerland, July 18, 2022 – RELIEF THERAPEUTICS Holding SA (SIX: RLF, OTCQB: RLFTF, RLFTY) (“Relief”), a biopharmaceutical company seeking to provide patients therapeutic relief from serious diseases with high unmet need, announced today the appointment of Serene Forte, Ph.D., MPH, as Senior Vice President, Head of Genetic Medicine, effective today, July 18, 2022. In this newly created position, reporting to Raghuram (Ram) Selvaraju, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Forte will spearhead Relief’s new strategic foray into the genetic medicine arena.

“Serene’s appointment, as Head of Genetic Medicine, marks the achievement of the company’s initial milestone in its strategy to enter the genetic medicine space. Our objective is to develop potentially curative therapies for devastating, as yet unaddressed, disease states, a goal which is complementary to our current focus on diseases with high unmet medical needs,” stated Dr. Selvaraju. “Serene is a proven executive, having built her reputation at industry leading gene therapy companies focused primarily on rare diseases. We look forward to leveraging Serene’s vast experience and record of success driving commercial, medical affairs, and patient advocacy strategies across global markets. In this new position, she will shepherd our genetic medicine initiative including evaluating  prospective assets.” 

Dr. Forte added, “Relief’s expertise in rare diseases and the strength of their management team, made my decision to join the company an easy one. I look forward to adding significant value to the company’s cost-effective capital approach to drug development by applying the same principles to genetic medicine.”

Prior to joining Relief, Dr. Forte served as Chief Scientific Officer of RCP Bio, a firm dedicated to optimizing commercialization for clinical-stage biotechnology companies headquartered in Cambridge, MA, where she was responsible for the strategic commercial development of rare disease therapeutics and gene therapy. Before that, she was Vice President, Medical Affairs - Gene Therapy at Krystal Biotech, Inc., where she managed the U.S. medical strategy for product development and commercialization of Vyjuvek^®, which, upon approval, would be the first, non-invasive, topical, re-dosable gene therapy for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Prior, Dr. Forte held positions of increasing responsibility at PTC Therapeutics, Inc., focused primarily on medical affairs. Most recently, as Executive Director, Head of U.S. Medical Affairs for Gene Therapy, Dr. Forte managed medical strategy for product development and commercialization of Upstaza^®, a novel gene therapy for AADC-deficiency. Before PTC Therapeutics, Dr. Forte was with Sarepta Therapeutics, first as Executive Director, Global Head Medical Communications and Medical Information, after which, she served as Executive Director, Global Gene Therapy Commercial Readiness, where she developed and drove the global commercial gene therapy delivery care model (U.S., Japan, LATAM) across the company’s gene therapy portfolio. Earlier in her career, Dr. Forte held numerous medical affairs positions at a variety of biopharmaceutical companies including, as Director, Medical Sciences – Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Medical Affairs at Medimmune Inc., an AstraZeneca Company.

Dr. Forte earned a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in virology and immunology from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.  

About RELIEF THERAPEUTICS Holding SA

Relief focuses primarily on clinical-stage programs based on molecules with a history of clinical testing and use in human patients or a strong scientific rationale. Relief has a Collaboration and License Agreement with Acer Therapeutics for the worldwide development and commercialization of ACER-001 (sodium phenylbutyrate) for the treatment of various inborn errors of metabolism, including UCDs and Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD). Relief also continues to study aviptadil for several possible lung related conditions. Finally, Relief's 2021 acquisitions of APR Applied Pharma Research SA and AdVita Lifescience GmbH brought to Relief a diverse pipeline of marketed and development-stage programs.

RELIEF THERAPEUTICS Holding SA is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol RLF and quoted in the U.S. on OTCQB under the symbols RLFTF and RLFTY. For more information, visit www.relieftherapeutics.com

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