Dr Mehdi Gasmi is Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Operating Officer of SparingVision.

Mehdi Gasmi is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience across the gene therapy drug development field, including in ophthalmology indications. Mehdi joined SparingVision in December 2021 as Chief Operating Officer and took the role of Chief Scientific Officer in April 2023.

Mehdi’s deep experience in the design and translational development of gene therapy drug candidates has been garnered through a multitude of posts, most recently as a Board member and, prior to that, as President and Chief Scientific Officer at Adverum Biotechnologies Inc. in California, USA. During his time as CSO of Adversum, Mehdi Gasmi led the company’s R&D and translational operations for AAV-based gene therapy products, specifically ADVM-022, a treatment for ocular VEGF-driven diseases.

Prior to Adverum, Mehdi Gasmi held numerous roles at gene therapy companies both in the US and in Europe, including Genethon, Ceregene, Cell Genesys and Chiron. In addition to his corporate experience, he worked on the development of HIV-based vectors for gene delivery at academic institutions including City of Hope and the University of California, San Diego.

Mehdi Gasmi received a MSc and PhD in Biochemistry from the Claude Bernard University, Lyon.

Marie Uguen was appointed Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer at SparingVision in March 2024.

In her role, Marie is in charge of defining and executing the regulatory strategy for the development and registration of SparingVision’s gene therapy products. She is also heading the quality assurance department of the company.

Before joining SparingVision in 2023, Marie was Chief Regulatory Officer & QA at Lysogene, a biopharmaceutical gene therapy company with lead programs in late clinical stage in neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorders that affect children.

Prior to joining Lysogene in early 2019, Marie worked 15+ years as a consultant, assisting life sciences companies throughout the development, registration and lifecycle of their products. Involved in the development of biotech products, NCEs and repurposed drugs, Marie has extensive experience in interactions with FDA, EMA and national health authorities.

In addition, Marie is consultant editor for TOPRA (The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs)’s Regulatory Rapporteur since January 2018.

Marie received an engineering degree from AgroParisTech (formerly INA-PG, Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon), completed by a Ph.D in cellular and molecular pharmacology at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Pr. Couvreur’s lab in the Paris-Saclay University (UMR 8612).”

Ryan was appointed Vice President of Intellectual Property of SparingVision in March 2023

Ryan brings to SparingVision 14 years of experience as a patent professional in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, France and Germany.

Ryan first practiced law at an IP firm in San Francisco and Washington D.C., followed by in-house counsel roles in biotech and digital health. Ryan’s in-house work includes successive roles at gene therapy startups VedereBio in Cambridge, MA and 4D Molecular Therapeutics in Emeryville, CA. Prior to entering law, Ryan performed doctoral research in the labs of David Schaffer and John Flannery at UC Berkeley, conducting some of the earliest work in AAV directed evolution in the retina. He is an inventor on multiple patents related to this research.

Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Harvard University and a Ph.D. and J.D. from UC Berkeley. He is a licensed US Patent Attorney and is an active member of the Washington D.C. bar.

Ryan is based in Paris, France.

Florence is Executive Vice President of Portfolio and Program Management at SparingVision.

Florence has almost 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. She started her career in clinical development at OrthoBiotech, J&J, then transitioned to leading all phases of clinical studies, and built clinical development plans for various biotech companies as well as pharmaceutical companies (Serono, Galderma, Novartis, Roche and Servier). Before joining SparingVision, Florence was leading CART programs at Cellectis where she was coordinating the set up and execution of the Integrated development plan from the PD/AD and non-clinical to registration.

Florence has worked on a variety of therapeutic areas, small molecules but also biologics, gene and cell therapies mainly in oncology / hematology and now ophthalmology.

Florence holds a Pharma D from University of Clermont-Ferrand in France. She is based in Paris, France.

Diana Cepeda, PhD joined SparingVision as VP of Research and Development.

Before assuming her current role, Dr. Cepeda held the position of Vice President of Translational Biology at Kriya Therapeutics, where she played a key role in defining the company’s pipeline and shaping strategic directions for its ophthalmology therapeutic unit. Prior to her tenure at Kriya, she spent seven years at Adverum Biotechnologies, advancing through various roles to become the Executive Director of Novel Vector Technology. In this capacity, she led research and drug discovery initiatives across multiple therapeutic areas, notably in ophthalmology and liver diseases. Dr. Cepeda also actively contributed to the research and development of Ixo-vec, Adverum’s clinical-stage gene therapy product candidate for the treatment of wet AMD. Additionally, she made substantial contributions to the pioneering efforts of the Blue Cone Monochromacy (BCM) rare disease program, which has since been licensed to Bluegen Therapeutics Foundation, where Dr. Cepeda also serves as a Scientific co-founder.

Before transitioning to her industry roles, Dr. Cepeda served as a Research Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine. Her academic journey includes earning a PhD in Experimental Medicine with an emphasis in oncology from the Karolinska Institute. Additionally, she holds an MSc degree from Uppsala University and a BSc in Cell Biology and Genetics from the University of British Columbia.

James was appointed as the Vice President of Clinical Development at SparingVision in September 2023.

In his role, James oversees the clinical operations team and is responsible for the clinical aspects of the gene therapy clinical trials at SparingVision.

James recently served as the Executive Medical Director, Ophthalmology Development Unit of Biogen and led the ocular gene therapy clinical trials.  James has previously served as the Vice President at Shire, Takeda, and Novartis and conducted clinical trials on diverse ophthalmology programs.  He has published in peer-reviewed journals including the American Journal of Ophthalmology, JAMA Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology, and Nature Medicine.

James received his MD from the University of Manitoba (Canada) and completed postgraduate training at McGill University and The George Washington University.  He earned his MBA and MS from Cornell University.

Nathalie Trepo was appointed Vice President of Investor Relations and Communications at SparingVision in March 2024.

Nathalie joined SparingVision in 2020, bringing with her over 10 years of expertise in investor relations (IR) and corporate communications within the biotech and medtech sectors. Since joining, she has quickly advanced through various roles, demonstrating her leadership capabilities. She has significant experience raising private and public funds for growing companies and before joining SparingVision, was responsible for IR and corporate communications for small and midcaps across a variety of therapeutic areas including Onxeo, Neovacs, and Theradiag.

Nathalie Trepo’s career also includes notable experience in Public Affairs in the United States, where she worked for EDF Inc. in the energy sector and served within the Economic Mission of the French Embassy in Washington, DC.

Nathalie holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University in the U.S. and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Finance from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Grenoble in France. She has lived and worked in various countries in the world including the U.S., China and Brazil and currently resides in Southern France.

Anthony Ramirez joined SparingVision in March 2024 as Vice President of CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls).

Anthony brings extensive expertise in advancing therapies through the critical stages of development, overseeing and optimizing the manufacturing processes of SparingVision’s drug candidates.

Prior to joining SparingVision, Anthony held the position of Director of Gene Therapy Process Development at Locanabio in California, where he spearheaded the development of novel vector technologies aimed at treating genetic diseases.

Before Locanabio, Anthony served as Senior Director of CMC at Adverum, where he led cross-functional teams in the development and execution of CMC strategies for gene therapy programs for ocular diseases.

Anthony’s career also includes significant leadership roles such as Executive Director of Manufacturing at 4DMT, where he oversaw manufacturing operations critical to delivering gene therapies to patients. Prior to 4DMT, Anhony held various CMC positions at Avalanche, Audentes, and Genethon.

Anthony graduated from UC San Diego and is based in Southern California.