Beacon Therapeutics Holdings Limited has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Dr. Daniel Chung as Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately. The clinical-stage biotechnology company, focused on developing treatments for blinding retinal diseases, announced the appointment as it approaches a critical phase in its clinical development program.
Dr. Chung brings over three decades of experience spanning clinical ophthalmology, academic research, and gene therapy development. Most recently, he served as Chief Medical Officer at SparingVision, a clinical-stage genomic medicine company. His most notable achievement came during his tenure as Ophthalmology Therapeutic Area Leader at Spark Therapeutics, where he played an instrumental role in the development of Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec), the first gene therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) for use in a blinding genetic disease.
Strategic Timing for Leadership Expansion
The appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Beacon Therapeutics as the company approaches completion of enrollment for its registrational Phase 2/3 VISTA trial. "We are thrilled to welcome Dan to our leadership team," said Lance Baldo, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Therapeutics. "He brings deep clinical and translational expertise in developing gene therapies for retinal diseases and has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to patients and the clinical community supporting blinding diseases."
Dr. Chung's extensive academic background includes serving as Senior Investigator at the FM Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and as Sub-Principal Investigator/Scientific Advisor on the RPE65 gene therapy study team at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
Focus on X-Linked Retinitis Pigmentosa
Dr. Chung expressed enthusiasm about joining Beacon's mission to address rare and prevalent retinal diseases. "X-linked retinitis pigmentosa is a devastating disease with no currently approved treatment," he noted. "I am greatly encouraged by the data from the Phase 2 DAWN trial, and look forward to applying my expertise to advance laru-zova through the regulatory process, one step closer to approval, and potentially treating patients living with progressive vision loss."
Beacon Therapeutics recently announced positive six-month interim safety and efficacy results from the Phase 2 DAWN trial of its lead program, laru-zova, in patients with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP). The company's pipeline includes this late-stage clinical development candidate for XLRP treatment, along with two preclinical programs targeting dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and an inherited cone-rod dystrophy (CRD).
Clinical and Academic Credentials
Dr. Chung's educational background includes fellowships in pediatric ophthalmology and ocular genetics research at the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, and in retinal gene therapy at the National Eye Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He completed his ophthalmology residency at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, and holds a B.S. in Biology and M.A. in Family Counseling from Eastern Nazarene College, along with a D.O. in Medicine from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine.
