Silence Therapeutics Taps Orchard’s Mark Rothera as President & CEO

Mark Rothera has been appointed president and CEO of Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SLN]]). He comes to London-based Silence from Orchard Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ORTX]]), where he was chief executive. Rothera’s experience also includes positions at PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PTCT]]), Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, and Shire.

Rothera is starting at Silence one week after the company debuted on the Nasdaq via a listing of American depositary shares. Silence is developing drugs intended to “silence” a gene, stopping it from producing a disease-causing protein. The company’s lead program, SLN124, is a potential treatment for the rare blood disorders beta thalassemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Author: Frank Vinluan

Xconomy Editor Frank Vinluan is a business journalist with experience covering technology and life sciences. Based in Raleigh, he was a staff writer at the Triangle Business Journal covering technology, biotechnology and energy before joining MedCityNews.com as North Carolina bureau chief. Prior to moving to North Carolina’s Research Triangle in 2007 he held business reporting positions at The Des Moines Register and The Seattle Times. View all posts by Frank Vinluan