Boston — Latus Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company developing gene therapies, appointed Donald Hayden, M.B.A., as Chairman of its Board of Directors and Michael MacLean as an independent director and Chair of the Audit Committee.
The appointments come as Latus advances its lead programs into clinical development, including LTS-101 for CLN2 disease and LTS-201 for Huntington’s disease.
“We are delighted to welcome Don and Mike to our Board at such a pivotal time for Latus. Don’s track record of building and chairing successful biotechnology companies, together with Mike’s deep operating, financial, and transactions expertise, will be invaluable as we advance our two lead programs into the clinic. Their experiences in scaling platform companies into pipelines of approved medicines will help Latus to realize its mission of delivering disease-modifying therapies for patients with genetically defined diseases,” said P. Peter Ghoroghchian, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Latus Bio.
Hayden brings more than four decades of biopharmaceutical leadership experience. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical and has previously chaired several biotechnology companies, including Insmed, REGENXBIO and Amicus Therapeutics.
Earlier in his career, Hayden spent 25 years at Bristol Myers Squibb, ultimately serving as President, Global Pharmaceuticals. He earned his M.B.A. from Indiana University and his B.A. from Harvard University.
“Latus is pursuing one of the most differentiated approaches in gene therapy with its novel and highly specific AAV capsid variants that enable low-dose delivery to disease-relevant tissues and cell types. With two lead programs advancing into clinical development and a platform built to address a broad range of other disorders, I am honored to join this exceptional team and to help guide the Company through its next phase of growth,” Hayden said.
MacLean most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Avidity Biosciences and helped lead the company through its acquisition by Novartis in 2026. He currently serves as an independent director of CAMP4 Therapeutics and sits on the Board of Research Alliance Corporation III.
He previously served as an independent director of Verve Therapeutics, as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President at Akcea Therapeutics and PureTech Health, and as Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer at Biogen Idec.
“I am thrilled to join Latus and its highly driven and passionate team. The company’s AAV gene therapy pipeline and novel capsid variants hold tremendous potential for delivering meaningful therapeutic benefits for patients,” MacLean said. “The Company is rapidly approaching key clinical inflection points and is poised for tremendous growth.”
