Abeona Therapeutics has appointed João Siffert, M.D. as head of research and development and chief medical officer. As a result, former CMO Juan Ruiz will assume the role of head of European medical affairs. The company also announced the appointment of Neena Patil, J.D. as general counsel and corporate secretary. João has 30 years of combined experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, medicine, and academia. In 2017, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of gene therapy developer AveXis, which was subsequently acquired by Novartis. He served as CMO for Ceregene from 2007 to 2011, where he was responsible for clinical development of adeno-associated viral (AAV2)-based gene therapies for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.