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A three-year-old gene therapy startup from Florida is relaunching Thursday with an infusion of health care investor cash and a chief executive officer recruited from Sarepta Therapeutics.
AavantiBio will use $107 million in new Series A financing to fund the development of an experimental gene therapy to treat patients with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a rare, inherited disease that causes damage to the central nervous system and heart.
The startup’s new CEO is Alexander “Bo” Cumbo, formerly the chief commercial officer at Sarepta. Cumbo was in charge of marketing both of Sarepta’s approved medicines, including Exondys 51, the first approved treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He was also involved with Sarepta’s own efforts to develop gene therapies.
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