Atsena Therapeutics Appoints McDavid Stilwell as Chief Financial Officer
Seasoned biotech executive brings over 25 years of leadership experience across financial strategy and operations, investor relations and business development
DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atsena Therapeutics, a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on using the life-changing power of genetic medicine to reverse or prevent blindness, today announced the appointment of McDavid Stilwell as Chief Financial Officer.
“We’re excited to welcome McDavid to the Atsena team as we look to build upon our strong clinical progress and the momentum from our oversubscribed Series C financing,” said Patrick Ritschel, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Atsena Therapeutics. “His strategic and operational expertise will be invaluable as we continue to advance our pipeline of therapies with first- and best-in-class potential for the treatment of inherited retinal diseases, including our ongoing Phase I/II/III LIGHTHOUSE trial of ATSN-201 in X-linked retinoschisis.”
“I’m thrilled to join Atsena during this exciting time in the company’s evolution, as we move toward initiation of the pivotal portion of the LIGHTHOUSE trial in the first quarter of 2026,” said Mr. Stilwell. “I look forward to working with the Atsena team to develop ATSN-201 and other genetic medicines with the potential to transform the lives of patients with vision loss.”
Prior to Atsena, Mr. Stilwell was CFO at CPTx. Previously, he served as CFO at Coherus Oncology, where he led the company’s financial operations during multiple U.S. product launches. Earlier in his career, he held leadership positions at biotechnology companies such as Sangamo Therapeutics, Orexigen Therapeutics, and GTx. Mr. Stilwell began his career as a Senior Investment Analyst at Shadwell Capital. He received a BA from St. John’s College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
About Atsena Therapeutics
Atsena Therapeutics (“Atsena”) is a clinical-stage gene therapy company developing best-in-class treatments for the reversal or prevention of blindness from inherited retinal diseases. The company’s lead program is evaluating ATSN-201 in an ongoing Phase I/II/III clinical trial for X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS), a genetic condition that is typically diagnosed in childhood and leads to blindness later in life. ATSN-101, Atsena’s first-in-class, investigational gene therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis type 1 (LCA1) has completed a Phase I/II trial with positive results (https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(24)01447-8). Atsena is advancing ATSN-101 toward the initiation of a global pivotal trial as part of its exclusive strategic collaboration with Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. Atsena’s pipeline is powered by novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) technology tailored to overcome the hurdles presented by inherited retinal diseases. Founded by pioneers in ocular gene therapy, Atsena is led by an experienced team dedicated to addressing the needs of patients with vision loss. For more information, please visit https://atsenatx.com/.
Investor and Media Contact:
Argot Partners
atsena@argotpartners.com
Business Contact:
info@atsenatx.com
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