LEIDEN, Netherlands & CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (Nasdaq: PRQR) (the “Company”), a company dedicated to changing lives through the creation of transformative RNA therapies for inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), today announced the appointment of Naveed Shams, MD, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer reporting to Daniel de Boer, Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Shams will assume responsibility for research programs and the translational medicine platform from David Rodman, MD, who is departing ProQR.
Dr. Shams brings to ProQR deep ophthalmology, scientific and research management experience, most recently serving as Senior Corporate Officer, Head of Global Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer at Santen, a global company focused solely on ophthalmology.“Naveed is a highly regarded leader who brings extensive experience in preclinical, translational, and clinical development of ophthalmic medicines. I am excited that he will be leading our research and early development programs in support of our mission to develop a portfolio of medicines for patients with inherited retinal diseases that currently have no treatment.” said Daniel A. de Boer, Chief Executive Officer at ProQR Therapeutics.As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Shams will provide strategic direction, oversight, and execution for ProQR’s research and early development efforts. This entails driving research strategy as ProQR continues to optimize its platform, preclinical, and clinical pipeline focused on ophthalmology.With more than 20 years of experience in global drug development, Dr. Shams has played a significant role in bringing several ophthalmology products to market, including Zaditor®/Zaditen®, Rescula®, and Lucentis®. While at Genentech, Dr. Shams helped to establish the Ophthalmology Development Group and led the development and . approval of Lucentis®. His experience spans startups and large multinational companies, including Novartis. Dr. Shams received his MD degree from Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan and his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of South Carolina. He completed fellowships in cornea and external diseases at Harvard Medical School and in histocompatibility and immunogenetics at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Shams is also a former faculty member at Schepens Eye Research Institute and Harvard Medical School.“ProQR has a strong precision medicine platform for IRDs with very compelling clinical data that provides a scalable opportunity to generate a broad portfolio of innovative medicines”, said Naveed Shams, MD, PhD, “I am excited to be part of the ProQR team that is building a platform and pipeline to deliver potentially transformative RNA therapies to patients with high unmet need.”Dr. Rodman will continue to provide strategic advisory services to ProQR during a transition period. Mr. de Boer noted, “I thank Dave for the role he has played over the last several years in our evolution to a precision medicine IRD company with multiple clinical stage programs and a deep pipeline focused on ophthalmology. We are grateful for his contributions and are pleased to continue working with him in an advisory capacity.”About ProQRProQR Therapeutics is dedicated to changing lives through the creation of transformative RNA therapies for the treatment of genetic eye diseases such as Leber congenital amaurosis 10, Usher syndrome and autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. Based on our unique proprietary RNA repair platform technologies we are growing our pipeline with patients and loved ones in mind.*Since 2012*FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “look forward to”, “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our business, technology platform and product candidates. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management only as of the date of this press release. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many reasons, including, without limitation, the risks, uncertainties and other factors in our filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including certain sections of our annual report filed on Form 20-F. Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future, except as required by law.ProQR Therapeutics N.V.Investor Contact:Sarah Kiely
ProQR Therapeutics N.V.
T: +1 617 599 6228
[email protected]orHans Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors
T: +1 617 535 7743
[email protected]  Media Contact:Sara Zelkovic
LifeSci Public Relations
T: +1 646 876 4933
[email protected]  

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