Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain
Officers.
Resignation of President and Chief Financial Officer
On June 20, 2021, Leone Patterson, President and Chief Financial Officer of
Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc., advised Adverum that she was resigning as an
officer of Adverum effective June 24, 2021. There were no disagreements between
Ms. Patterson and Adverum, and Ms. Patterson has agreed to consult with Adverum
to ensure a smooth transition.
On June 24, 2021, Adverum and Ms. Patterson entered into a Consulting Agreement.
The Consulting Agreement provides that Ms. Patterson will provide consulting
services to Adverum for a period of three months, during which time
Ms. Patterson's outstanding options to purchase Adverum common stock and
restricted stock units will continue to vest. Pursuant to the Consulting
Agreement, the post-termination exercise period applicable to Ms. Patterson's
options was extended to six months from the termination date of the Consulting
Agreement.
Appointment of Acting Chief Financial Officer and Principal Financial and
Accounting Officer
Upon Ms. Patterson ceasing to be President and Chief Financial Officer,
Christopher DeRespino, Chief Business Officer of Adverum, became Acting Chief
Financial Officer in addition to his role as Chief Business Officer.
Mr. DeRespino also assumed the roles of Principal Financial Officer and
Principal Accounting Officer of Adverum.
Mr. DeRespino, age 40, has served as our Chief Business Officer since February
2021. From October 2013 to February 2021, he served in various roles at Amgen
Inc., most recently as executive director of business development, responsible
for evaluating and negotiating product transactions, partnerships, and potential
acquisitions, from June 2018 to February 2021. Prior to Amgen, from February
2013 to October 2013, Mr. DeRespino was director, asset acquisition/business
development at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was acquired by Amgen.
Mr. DeRespino joined Onyx from Pfizer Inc., where he was director of business
development evaluation and strategy from July 2008 to January 2013.
Mr. DeRespino began his career in management consulting at CSC Global Health
Solutions where he collaborated with pharmaceutical organizations and academic
medical centers on strategic plans, investment decisions, potential
partnerships, and operational initiatives from July 2003 to July 2006.
Mr. DeRespino earned a B.S.E. in biomedical engineering from The Johns Hopkins
University and an M.B.A. from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of
Business.
Appointment of President
Upon Ms. Patterson ceasing to be President and Chief Financial Officer, Laurent
Fischer, Chief Executive Officer of Adverum, became President of Adverum in
addition to his role as Chief Executive Officer.
Dr. Fischer, age 57, became our Chief Executive Officer and joined our board of
directors in June 2020. Prior to that, Dr. Fischer served as senior vice
president, head of the liver therapeutic area at Allergan PLC, a global
pharmaceutical company, from November 2016 to June 2020, in which role he was
responsible for the Liver Therapeutic R&D pipeline. Dr. Fischer served as chief
executive officer of Tobira Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company from 2013 until Allergan acquired Tobira Therapeutics in November 2016,
in which role he was responsible for taking the company public, completing the
first study in NASH demonstrating an anti-fibrotic effect and selling the
company to Allergan. Prior to Tobira, he served as chairman and chief executive
officer of Jennerex, Inc., until its acquisition by SillaJen Biotherapeutics,
Inc. Prior to Jennerex, he was co-founder, president and chief executive officer
of Ocera Therapeutics and president and chief executive officer of Auxeris
Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Fischer serves as chairman of the board of directors of
CTI Biopharma and on the board of directors at Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. Fischer also serves on the board of directors of Lycia Therapeutics, a
private company, and as a senior advisor on the Life Sciences Team at Frazier
Healthcare Partners. Over the span of his career, Dr. Fischer has held roles of
increasing responsibility at several companies, including, RXCentric, Inc. (now
part of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.), MedVantx Inc., Dupont
Pharmaceuticals, Dupont-Merck and F. Hoffmann-La Roche. Dr. Fischer received his
undergraduate degree from the University of Geneva and his medical degree from
the Geneva Medical School, Switzerland.
Appointment of Chief Operating Officer
Upon Ms. Patterson ceasing to be President and Chief Financial Officer, Peter
Soparkar, Chief Legal Officer of Adverum, became Chief Operating Officer.
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Mr. Soparkar, age 50, has served as our Chief Legal Officer since October 2019.
Mr. Soparkar was previously chief legal officer, corporate secretary, head of
human resources and head of compliance at Counsyl, Inc. from July 2016 to
September 2018, where he led support for the company's legal and human resources
needs, debt and equity financings, investor interactions, IPO preparations and
acquisition by Myriad Genetics, Inc. From November 2006 to July 2016,
Mr. Soparkar served in several roles, most recently as Vice President, Associate
General Counsel, at Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, where he led the legal team's
support of company operations and other business matters, including delivering
on numerous debt and equity financings and four landmark transactions. Prior to
Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Soparkar worked at Latham & Watkins in London and San
Francisco, with a practice spanning international and domestic markets, as well
as private and public transactions. He received a J.D. from New York University
School of Law and a B.A. in economics and politics from Oberlin College.
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