Watertown, Mass. — Avilar Therapeutics has appointed Leslie Meltzer, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer as the biopharmaceutical company advances its lead extracellular protein degradation program toward clinical development.
Dr. Meltzer will also join Avilar’s Board of Directors.
Avilar is developing therapies through its ATAC, or ASGPR Targeting Chimera, platform. Its lead program is designed to rapidly and selectively degrade circulating sFlt1, a protein considered a key driver of preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication with significant unmet medical need.
The company is also advancing programs targeting IgM, ApoB and IgG.
“Avilar has built a broad extracellular protein degradation platform with the potential to address a wide range of diseases driven by pathogenic circulating proteins, from our lead ATAC program targeting sFlt1 in preeclampsia to our IgM-targeting ATAC program for anti-MAG neuropathy and other IgM-mediated diseases, and our work developing oral ATAC degraders,” said Milind Deshpande, Chair of Avilar’s Board of Directors.
“Leslie has spent her career advancing innovative therapies across the full spectrum from development through approval and commercialization, and we are confident this experience makes her the right leader for Avilar’s next phase,” Deshpande added.
Dr. Meltzer most recently served as Chief Research and Development Officer at Apellis Pharmaceuticals, where she led strategic prioritization of the company’s immunology pipeline and helped lead its acquisition by Biogen in 2026.
Previously, she was Chief Medical Officer at Orchard Therapeutics, where she helped advance the company’s gene therapy pipeline for rare pediatric neurometabolic diseases and supported the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of LENMELDY for metachromatic leukodystrophy. She also played a key role in Orchard’s acquisition by Kyowa Kirin in 2024.
Dr. Meltzer has held leadership roles at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Biogen and Actelion Pharmaceuticals. She holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in biology and neuroscience from Brandeis University.
“I’ve spent my career advancing therapies for complex diseases where patients and their families have significant unmet needs. Avilar is pursuing extracellular targets and diseases where current treatments fall short or are not available, and this is exactly where Avilar’s ATAC degradation approach has the potential to offer meaningful advantages,” Dr. Meltzer said.
“I am excited to work with the Avilar team to advance the company’s innovative pipeline into the clinic and, ultimately, bring new treatment options to patients,” she added.
