Cambridge, Mass. — City Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing RNA interference therapeutics, has appointed Keith Regnante, MBA, as Chief Financial Officer and Mary Beth DeLena, J.D., as Chief Legal Officer.
Regnante will lead the company’s finance organization and capital strategy, while DeLena will oversee legal affairs and corporate governance as City Therapeutics expands its RNAi platform and pipeline.
“With our lead program in the clinic and two additional programs advancing toward the clinic, these appointments strategically expand our leadership team with the right talent to match the scale of our ambitions,” said Andy Orth, CEO of City Therapeutics.
Regnante brings more than 25 years of finance experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has previously served as CFO of two public companies.
He joins City Therapeutics from Keros Therapeutics, where he served as CFO and helped lead the company through its initial public offering, follow-on offerings and other financing activities. He also played a role in securing a licensing agreement with Takeda Pharmaceuticals that included a $200 million upfront payment and up to $1.1 billion in potential milestone payments.
Before Keros, Regnante served as CFO of Wave Life Sciences. He previously held finance leadership positions at Shire Pharmaceuticals and Biogen, including roles in corporate finance, research and development finance, investor relations and business development.
“City has the combination of exceptional science, leadership and team talent needed to lead the next generation of RNAi medicines,” Regnante said. “We expect to advance multiple clinical candidates and expand our platform partnerships, while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital raising and financial management.”
DeLena brings more than 25 years of legal and corporate experience in the life sciences industry. She joins City Therapeutics from Paragon Therapeutics, where she served as Chief Legal Officer overseeing governance, licensing, alliance management and intellectual property.
She previously served as General Counsel and Secretary of PepGen and spent more than 15 years at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Secretary.
During her tenure at Alnylam, DeLena advised company leadership on several major transactions, including a $2 billion strategic financing collaboration with Blackstone, an $800 million eye and central nervous system collaboration with Regeneron, and a $700 million rare disease collaboration with Sanofi Genzyme.
Earlier in her career, she served as Vice President, Legal and Secretary at Praecis Pharmaceuticals and worked at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
“Our pipeline continues to progress and expand, and this is the time for City to evolve our legal and governance function to support our long-term success,” DeLena said. “I am energized to work again with colleagues who helped establish the RNAi field, and to support the advancement of this modality into new tissues and diseases for patients.”
