We’re here to change patients’ lives.

Also, here to change genetic medicine as we know it today.

At iECURE, we believe permanently correcting devastating, “loss of function” diseases is now possible. This is why we are pursuing mutation-agnostic in vivo gene insertion approaches to knock healthy genes into patients’ chromosomes, allowing the expression of a missing gene which may eliminate symptoms and extend life.

Our Story

We were founded to advance the life’s work of James M. Wilson, M.D., Ph.D., Rose H. Weiss professor and director, Orphan Disease Center; professor in Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine; and director of the Gene Therapy Program (GTP) at the University of Pennsylvania.

More than 35 years ago, Dr. Wilson was studying ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency: a urea cycle disorder and inborn error of metabolism that often presents in newborns, causes toxic ammonia buildup and leads to death in early childhood. Dr. Wilson hypothesized that if science had a way to permanently supply a healthy copy of the gene that codes for OTC, the disorder could be cured, yet technical challenges historically stymied this vision.

Until now.

New gene editing technologies hold the promise of first making a cut in genomic DNA, and then inserting a healthy copy of the disease-causing gene into the chromosome. While this approach is applicable in a broad range of tissues, our team is starting with an initial focus on liver disorders.

iECURE has established a foundational collaboration with the GTP and their 300+ experts in vector engineering, discovery, early-stage development gene therapy and gene editing manufacturing. This expertise is the backbone of our early R&D, and we are poised to assume responsibility from the GTP and advance this vision of mutation-agnostic in vivo gene insertion into the clinic and beyond.

The iECURE Team

Our team is comprised of seasoned experts in biotechnology, gene therapy and liver disorders who have extensive experience in building successful companies.

LeadershipBoard of DirectorsTeamAdvisors

Joseph Truitt, MBA

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Joseph Truitt currently serves as the CEO and Board member of iECURE Inc. Mr. Truitt previously was CEO of BioSpecifics Technologies Corp., which was recently acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals. Prior to BioSpecifics, Mr. Truitt was CEO of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, which he joined in 2009 and held positions of increasing responsibility throughout his tenure. Mr. Truitt is Chairman of the board at Larimar Therapeutics and serves on the board of Code BioTherapeutics. Mr. Truitt served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. He holds an MBA from Saint Joseph’s University and a BS from LaSalle University.

Paul Firuta, MBA

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Paul Firuta has nearly 30 years of commercial and operational experience in the biopharma industry, most recently serving as COO of Achillion. Prior, he held the role of chief commercial officer at uniQure, as well as other senior commercial leadership positions at NPS Pharmaceuticals and ViroPharma. Mr. Firuta holds an MBA from St. Joseph’s University and a BS from King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Alex Monteith, MBA

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Alex Monteith, iECURE chief business officer, has over two decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical space. His most recent position was at BioSpecifics Technologies, where he served as CBO with Mr. Truitt. Prior to BioSpecifics, he was VP of business development for Deerfield Management. He has also served as VP of business development for Achillion. Mr. Monteith holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS from James Madison University.

David Garrett, MBA

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David Garrett joins iECURE from Dynacure, where he served as chief financial officer and managed a successful Series C raise of €58 million and led its IPO process. Previously, he held various roles at Nabriva Therapeutics, including vice president, corporate controller and head of investor relations and senior director, business planning and analysis. At Nabriva, Mr. Garrett led all Wall Street-facing activities, completed over $150 million in equity capital raises and oversaw all SEC reporting and compliance functions. He was also responsible for leading Nabriva’s redomicile from Austria to Ireland. Prior to Nabriva, Mr. Garrett held senior-level finance roles at Covis Pharmaceuticals, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals and ViroPharma and was a manager at KPMG. Mr. Garrett received an MBA and B.S. in accountancy from Villanova University and is a certified public accountant in Pennsylvania.

Gabriel M. Cohn, M.D., MBA

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Gabriel M. Cohn, M.D., MBA, is the Chief Medical Officer of iECURE. He brings more than 30 years of experience in academic medicine and the biotechnology industry and has contributed to the development of multiple therapeutics for the treatment of rare genetic disorders. Most recently, Dr. Cohn served as the Chief Medical Officer of Homology Medicines where he led the company’s Phase 1/2 gene therapy trial for phenylketonuria (PKU) and supported two investigational new drug (IND) submissions to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the company’s gene editing programs. Previously, he was Vice President of Clinical Development at AVROBIO, leading clinical programs, protocol design, regulatory filings, FDA and Health Canada interactions, and trial site identification and initiations. Dr. Cohn has also served in executive leadership roles at OvaScience and Shire. He is a Fellow of the American College of Genetics and Genomics (FACMG) and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), author of more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, and served as the Chief of Clinical and Reproductive Genetics and Medical Director, Genetic Services at Baystate Medical Center and as Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. He earned his M.D. from SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse and MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He completed a residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at SUNY HSC at Syracuse and a fellowship in Medical Genetics at the National Institutes of Health.

George Diaz, M.D., Ph.D.

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George Diaz, M.D., Ph.D., currently serves as VP, Therapeutic Area Lead for Urea Cycle Disorders (UCDs) at iECURE. Dr. Diaz joins the company with more than 25 years of experience in genetics and pediatrics, particularly in metabolic diseases and monogenic disorders. Most recently, he served as chief of the division of Medical Genetics and professor in the Departments of Genetics & Genomic Sciences and Pediatrics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Over his remarkable career at Mount Sinai, Dr. Diaz has collaborated extensively with industry partners to bring novel therapeutics to patients with UCDs and other rare genetic disorders. In addition to his roles at Mount Sinai, he has served as director of the Program for Inherited Metabolic Diseases, a nationally recognized specialty center for the evaluation and care of patients with inborn errors of metabolism. Dr. Diaz earned his B.A. in biology from Cornell University and his M.D. and Ph.D. from State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn.

Burt Adelman, M.D.

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Burt Adelman, M.D., is a thought leader and expert in drug development with 32 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. Dr. Adelman was Chairman of the Board and co-founder of Verve Therapeutics, a clinical stage public biotechnology company using base editing drug candidates to prevent atherosclerosis, recently acquired by Eli Lilly. He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Dyax Corp, where he led development of lanadelumab (Takhzyro). Prior to Dyax, Dr. Adelman held multiple leadership roles at Sesen Bio (formerly Eleven Biotherapeutics), most recently as Interim President of Research and Development. Dr. Adelman began his career at Biogen, where he held roles of increasing responsibility during a 16-year tenure, including Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Executive Vice President of Research and Development, and Executive Vice President of Portfolio Strategy. He is Co-founder and Chairman of Clear Creek Bio and a former member of the boards of directors of Sirona Medical Technologies and Catabasis Bio. He was Special Advisor to Novo Ventures (US) Inc. and the Novo Broad Greenhouse and is a past member of the Investment Committee of Partners (Mass General and Brigham and Women’s Hospital) Investment Fund. Dr. Adelman holds a B.S. in Biology from Trinity College and an M.D. from Cornell Medical College. He completed residency training and a hematology fellowship at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.

Joseph Truitt, MBA

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Joseph Truitt currently serves as the CEO and Board member of iECURE Inc. Mr. Truitt previously was CEO of BioSpecifics Technologies Corp., which was recently acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals. Prior to BioSpecifics, Mr. Truitt was CEO of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, which he joined in 2009 and held positions of increasing responsibility throughout his tenure. Mr. Truitt is Chairman of the board at Larimar Therapeutics and serves on the board of Code BioTherapeutics. Mr. Truitt served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. He holds an MBA from Saint Joseph’s University and a BS from LaSalle University.

Ray Camahort, Ph.D.

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Ray Camahort, Ph.D., partner at Novo Ventures, has over 15 years of combined investment, business, and research experience, with expertise in biochemistry, genetics, and gene therapy/editing. Prior to joining Novo Ventures, Ray worked in business development at the Harvard University Office of Technology Development where his role was to facilitate commercialization of technologies developed in the chemistry and stem cell/regenerative biology departments. He completed a National Institute of Health post-doctoral training fellowship at Harvard University and was a doctoral fellow at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in biochemistry and molecular biology and a B.S. in biological sciences from the University of California Santa Barbara.

Tom Woiwode, Ph.D.

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Tom Woiwode is a managing director at Versant Ventures and has been working there since 2002. He has led multiple investments, including in Crispr Therapeutics, Passage Bio, Audentes Therapeutics, Annapurna Therapeutics, Gritstone Bio, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Jecure Therapeutics, Therachon, Anokion, Vividion Therapeutics, Tempest Therapeutics, Aligos Therapeutics and CODA Biotherapeutics. Before joining Versant, he served as a medicinal chemist at XenoPort. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University and a B.S. in chemistry from University of California, Berkeley.

Derek Yuan, Ph.D.

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Derek Yuan, Ph.D. is a managing director at LYFE Capital and has been working there since the start of the investment team in 2018. He has been involved in multiple investments, including Pliant Therapeutics, Tempest Therapeutics, Cytek Biosciences, Immuneering, Kyverna, ImmuneOnco, and Aspen Neurosciences. Prior to LYFE Capital, Derek worked at Biotech Equity Research at Credit Suisse. He received his Ph.D. degree in chemical biology from the Rockefeller University and his B.S. in chemistry and biology from Tsinghua University.

Tal Zaks, M.D., Ph.D.

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Tal Zaks, M.D., Ph.D., is a Partner with OrbiMed. Dr. Zaks was recently the Chief Medical Officer at Moderna, where he led the development of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine and other key programs. Previously, Dr. Zaks held senior leadership positions in drug development at major pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Zaks received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Ben Gurion University and conducted post-doctoral research at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Brad Dickerson

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Mark J. Semanick

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Matthew Hall

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Maryann A. Toto, MSN, RAC

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Jane Fisher

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Mike Burnham

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Karen Kuhn

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Dave Lecher

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Patricia A. Ward

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Thomas White

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Donna Lutz

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Jeff Kopesky

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Christine Rexer

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Eric Squinto

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George Alkire

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Colten White

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Heather Flynn

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Matthew Firuta Headshot

Matthew Firuta

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Sue McGoldrick

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Robert Pietrusko, Pharm.D.

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Robert Pietrusko, Pharm.D., serves as Chief Regulatory Officer and Executive Committee member at DBV Technologies. He has directed the global approval of more than 35 new products in multiple therapeutic areas. He recently led the Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance group at Vor Bio. As an early team member at Voyager Therapeutics, he pioneered regulatory strategies to transition AAV gene therapies from research into the clinic. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs & Quality and an Executive Officer at ViroPharma, Inc. He also served as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda), spearheading the accelerated approval of Velcade® in the U.S. and in more than 90 countries worldwide. Earlier in his career, Dr. Pietrusko was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at SmithKline Beecham (now GSK). He has played a key role in pioneering the concept of the Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation process and served as Chair of the U.S. Intelligence and Regulatory Affairs Advisory Group of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) and was an appointed member of the Regulatory Affairs Committee of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapies (ASGCT). Dr. Pietrusko holds a B.S. and a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Rutgers University, and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. Dr. Pietrusko completed his residency training in hospital pharmacy at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and is the author or co-author of over 50 publications.

Tay Salimullah

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Tay Salimullah is Managing General Partner of Renovamen Advisors and a Venture Partner at 4BIO Capital, supporting early-stage biotech and investor teams at the intersection of scientific innovation and commercial execution. A former executive at Novartis Gene Therapies, Tay helped transform AveXis into a global leader in advanced therapies, pioneering the commercial model for Zolgensma®– approved in 50+ countries, with over 4,000 patients treated and $5B+ in cumulative revenue. He previously held a variety of investment and healthcare roles, including a decade at Pfizer in strategic and commercial roles. Tay currently serves as Chief Strategy Officer and Board member at Trogenix®, advancing AAV-based oncology gene therapies. Also, as Executive in Residence at the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, he brings deep expertise in rare disease, gene therapy, and global commercialization. He holds a BSc in Business Management from Brunel University, London, and completed executive education in Venture Capital at Imperial College London.

James M. Wilson, M.D., Ph.D.

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James Wilson, M.D., Ph.D. has nearly four decades of experience in gene therapy and currently serves as President and CEO of GEMMA Biotherapeutics and Executive Chair of Franklin Biolabs. As a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Wilson established the nation’s first and largest academic program in gene therapy. His laboratory discovered and characterized novel adeno-associated viruses (AAVs), which have since become the preferred vectors for gene therapy delivery. He has been instrumental in translating scientific advances into commercial platforms, founding 10 biotechnology companies to advance gene therapy. His team’s achievements include 3 FDA-approved AAV-based therapies, approximately 20 active development programs, 95 patents related to gene therapy-related technologies, and first-in-patient studies across 15 different diseases. Dr. Wilson earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in biological chemistry from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in chemistry from Albion College.

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