Avalanche Biotechnologies Names Paul B. CLeaveland New CEO

Avalanche Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:AAVL) has announced that Paul B. Cleveland will be assuming the appointment of CEO and joining the Board of Directors on December 9.
According to the press release:

He also will serve as principal financial officer of Avalanche on an interim basis. Mr. Cleveland, previously the chief executive officer of Celladon Corporation, brings more than 20 years of leadership experience to Avalanche, including management and operational experience across the biotechnology industry. This includes positions at multiple public biotechnology companies, including CEO, president, chief financial officer and Board member as well as chief operating officer at a venture capital firm. Subsequent to December 9, Hans P. Hull who has been serving as interim CEO of Avalanche since July, will return to his previous role of senior vice president of business operations.
“Paul brings strong operational experience and a foundation in gene therapy to the role of CEO and member of the Board of Avalanche,” said Mark Blumenkranz, chairman of the Board of Directors.
“Avalanche has a promising next generation vector platform and a talented group of experienced professionals with significant records of achievement in the industry,” stated Mr. Cleveland. “I am excited and honored to join this team, which has developed a competitive pipeline, platform and manufacturing capabilities that have the potential to bring next-generation therapies in to the clinic and ultimately to patients.”
Prior to joining Avalanche, Mr. Cleveland served as chief executive officer of Celladon, and served as president and chief financial officer since June 2014. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Sangamo Biosciences and Alder Biopharmaceuticals, where he also serves as chairman of the audit committee. Before joining Celladon, he served as executive vice president of strategy and chief financial officer at Aragon Pharmaceuticals, a privately held, small-molecule drug discovery company that was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Cleveland previously served as general partner and chief operating officer at Mohr Davidow Ventures, and prior to that he was executive vice president, corporate development, and chief financial officer for Affymax. Earlier in his career he was an investment banker at J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. and a predecessor firm, Hambrecht & Quist, and a corporate lawyer at Cooley Godward LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Mr. Cleveland holds a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and an A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis.

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