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Abeona Names New CEO; Miller Remains as President and CSO

April 2, 2018

 

Rare Daily Staff

Abeona Therapeutics named Carsten Thiel, the former executive vice president and chief commercial officer of rare disease drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals, as its new CEO.

Thiel, who brings more than 25 years of global biopharma industry to Abeona, replaces Tim Miller, who will remain with Abeona as its president and assume the additional role of chief scientific officer.

The appointment comes as Abeona readies to initiate a pivotal late-stage trial for its EB-101 gene therapy for treatment of the rare skin disorder recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa this year. The company also recently won an U.S. Food and Drug Administration Rare Pediatric Disease designation for its ABO-202, its gene therapy in development for the treatment of CNL1 disease, or infantile and late infantile-onset Batten disease.

“As CEO, Carsten Thiel brings a unique combination of extensive experience in research and global rare disease commercialization to Abeona,” said Steven Rouhandeh, executive chairman of Abeona. “In his recent positions, he successfully created value by building cohesive talented teams, driving the commercial success of multiple products globally and fostering entrepreneurial culture; all key aspects that will be critical to our success in these areas in the years ahead.”

Prior to Thiel’s time at CCO of Alexion, he served as its senior vice president, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific for the company where he was responsible for driving Alexion’s global commercial operations in these regions.

Before that, Thiel served as vice president, head of Europe at Amgen. In this role, he led regional operations and was responsible for multiple products in hematology/oncology, nephrology, and bone disorders, and prepared for new product launches in inflammation and cardiology. He also held various other senior leadership positions at Amgen, including General Manager, Germany, and General Manager, CEE, where he led all markets in Eastern Europe and established Amgen’s operations in Russia. He also served as Head of the Oncology franchise in Europe during the time of several blockbuster product launches.

Prior to joining Amgen, Thiel held several sales and marketing leadership roles across Europe at Roche.

He earned his doctorate in molecular biology and biochemistry at Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany.

April 2, 2018
Photo: Carsten Thiel, CEO of Abeona Therapeutics

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