TreeFrog Therapeutics Names Mark Rothera as CEO

TreeFrog Therapeutics, a French biotech focused on bringing regenerative medicine to millions through its proprietary cell technology, C-Stem, has appointed Mark Rothera, as Chief Executive Officer and Board member.

Rothera succeeds Frédéric Desdouits, who is stepping down after five years in the role. In the new leadership configuration, co-founders Kévin Alessandri and Maxime Feyeux will transition from daily operations to focus on their roles on the Board.

Elsy Boglioli, Chair of the Board of TreeFrog Therapeutics, said, “On behalf of the Board, we are delighted to welcome Mark to TreeFrog. His 30+ years of biopharma leadership, including most recently, three biotech CEO roles in gene therapy and biologics, will be invaluable as we advance our Parkinson’s and liver programs, further strengthen our regenerative medicine platform and pursue strategic partnerships such as the one in place with Vertex for their Type 1 Diabetes pipeline.”

Experience

Rothera has driven the successful scale up of multiple biotech companies, including most recently, Viracta, Silence Therapeutics and Orchard Therapeutics. Renowned for building strong leadership teams that advance novel medicines through development to regulatory approval and commercialization, he has focused much of his career on specialty diseases and novel modalities including gene therapy and RNAi therapies.

In his earlier career, Rothera held commercial lead roles in PTC Therapeutics, Aegerion, Shire, and GSK. Mark serves on the Board of GenPharm and holds an M.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an M.B.A. from the European Institute for Business Administration (INSEAD).

“I am excited to join TreeFrog at this pivotal moment,” said Rothera. “I am looking forward to working with the talented team at TreeFrog and our partners to advance breakthrough medicines to millions of patients.”