Mark Rothera joins Silence Therapeutics as new CEO

Drug discovery and development company Silence Therapeutics announced the appointment of Mark Rothera as its president and chief executive officer and board member on Monday, effective immediately.

The AIM-traded firm said Iain Ross, who had served as executive chairman since December, had now assumed his previous position of non-executive chairman.

It said Rothera was bringing more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a “strong record” of commercial and operational leadership, including driving the successful build of multiple biotech companies, primarily in the field of rare or specialty diseases.

Prior to joining Silence, he served as CEO of Orchard Therapeutics, where he oversaw its “transformation” from a small UK-based, privately held company with two clinical-stage programmes into a “leading gene therapy company” with seven clinical-stage programmes and fully integrated capabilities.

Under Rothera’s leadership, Orchard completed an initial public offering of American depositary shares on the Nasdaq Global Market, and during his tenure that company secured more than $600m in financing and grew from a market capitalisation of $250m to more than $1.7bn at its peak.

Before Orchard, he served as chief commercial officer of PTC Therapeutics where he helped transition that company from a privately held research and development biotechnology company to a publicly traded, commercial-stage company with a global footprint, including the successful launch of two rare disease therapies.

He also previously served as global president of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, and vice-president and general manager of commercial operations at Shire Human Genetic Therapies for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Rothera received an MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, and an MBA from the European Institute for Business Administration.

Based out of Silence's New York City office, Rothera would lead the continued global expansion of the company, the board said.

His appointment followed the completion of Silence's Nasdaq listing on 8 September, and aligned with its strategy of increasing its presence in the United States.

“Following a thorough search, Mark's appointment reflects his proven leadership skills and strong track record in growing successful biotechnology companies and building shareholder value,” said chairman Iain Ross.

“I believe he will now provide the leadership necessary to grow Silence into a leading international biotechnology company built upon our innovative siRNA technology platform, proprietary product pipeline and validating industry partnerships.”

At 1310 BST, shares in Silence Therapeutics were down 2.56% at 456p.