BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Edgewise Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule therapies for musculoskeletal diseases, today announced the appointment of Abby H. Bronson to the newly created position of Vice President, Patient Advocacy and External Innovation. Ms. Bronson will be responsible for leading patient advocacy and building key external relationships with the muscular dystrophy community with the goal of bringing patient insights into drug development. This comes at an important time as Edgewise prepares EDG-5506, the companys lead product candidate, for clinical development for Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD and BMD). Ms. Bronson brings a wealth of experience in the rare disease space, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Research Strategy at Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest patient centered advocacy organization devoted to finding a cure for Duchenne.

We are pleased to have Abby join our company as we advance our muscular dystrophy program and prepare EDG-5506 for clinical development, said Kevin Koch, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Edgewise Therapeutics. Having a strong patient advocacy perspective and voice in the DMD community is integral to executing against our vision of creating novel drugs that will transform the lives of patients living with severe musculoskeletal diseases. Abby brings an extensive patient advocacy background and we are fortunate to have someone with her knowledge and passion for the patient community join our team.

Im excited to join the dedicated team at Edgewise and to support the advancement of EDG-5506, a potentially transformative product candidate in DMD, through meaningful engagement with the patient and scientific communities, said Ms. Bronson.

Ms. Bronson is a leader within the rare disease space and over her career has managed critical alliances and partnerships with academia, biopharmaceutical companies, National Institutes of Health (NIH)/federal programs, patient groups and other stakeholders. Most recently she worked at PPMD as Senior Vice President of Research Strategy where she led the Research Portfolio and built strong relationships with Duchenne academic and clinical researchers, industry and regulators to help incorporate the patient voice and improve drug development success in DMD. Prior to this, Ms. Bronson was at the NIHs Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Division of Clinical Innovation where she was Director of Operations for the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program. Additionally, Ms. Bronson held positions at Children's National Medical Center, where she managed the global development and execution of key translational and drug development initiatives in select rare diseases, focusing on Duchenne at the Research Center for Genetic Medicine; MedImmune (acquired by Astra-Zeneca), where she led marketing initiatives for Synagis (palivizumab) for RSV disease; Medtronic where she managed global product marketing for select medical devices; and Ciba-Geneva Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novartis) where she was responsible for managing relationships with major managed care organizations and led sales and marketing initiatives for their cardiovascular franchise. Ms. Bronson received her M.B.A from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and B.A. degree from the University of Vermont.

About Muscular Dystrophy

Muscular dystrophies are a group of genetic disorders associated with defects in the critical muscle-associated structural protein dystrophin or the sarcomere complex and are characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. In individuals with neuromuscular conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, muscle contractions lead to continued rounds of muscle breakdown that the body struggles to repair. Eventually, as patients age, fibrosis and fatty tissue accumulate in the muscle portending a steep decline in physical function that ends with mortality. There remains an unmet need for treatments that reduce muscle breakdown in patients with neuromuscular conditions. Arresting this amplified muscle response will have a dramatic effect on disease progression.

About Edgewise Therapeutics

Edgewise Therapeutics, founded in 2017 by Alan Russell, Ph.D., Peter Thompson, M.D. (Orbimed Advisors) and Badreddin Edris, Ph.D., (Springworks Inc.), is pioneering the development of first-in-class medicines for the treatment of high morbidity musculoskeletal diseases. Skeletal muscle is the largest organ system in the human body, regulating both force production to enable muscle contraction, locomotion, and postural maintenance and the metabolism of glucose, fatty and amino acids. By modulating these processes in skeletal muscle, we create therapeutic agents that will reduce muscle damage, normalize muscle function, decrease mortality and profoundly benefit our patients quality of life. To learn more, go to: http://www.edgewisetx.com

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Edgewise Therapeutics Appoints Abby H. Bronson, M.B.A., as Vice President, Patient Advocacy and External Innovation - Business Wire