CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vedanta Biosciences, a leading clinical-stage company developing a new category of therapies for immune-mediated diseases based on rationally-defined consortia of human microbiome-derived bacteria, today announced the appointment of Troy Ignelzi as an independent member of its Board of Directors. Mr. Ignelzi has more than 25 years of experience supporting life science companies in finance, business development and operations, and has helped oversee their evolutions from privately held, clinical-stage companies to publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies preparing for commercial launches.

“We’re excited to welcome Troy to the Vedanta board,” said Bernat Olle, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Vedanta Biosciences. “Troy has a wealth of expertise in the biotech industry that can help guide our financial strategy as we move to our next phase of development.”

Mr. Ignelzi has played a key role in seven IPOs, and currently serves as the chief financial officer of Karuna Therapeutics. He joined Karuna in March 2019, coming from scPharmaceuticals, where he was also in the role of chief financial officer, overseeing its transformation to a company preparing for commercial launch. Prior to scPharmaceuticals, Mr. Ignelzi was a senior executive at Juventas Therapeutics, Esperion Therapeutics and Insys Therapeutics, helping raise public and private capital, expand development pipelines through licensing and acquisition and advancing critical therapies, several of which are currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Mr. Ignelzi holds a B.A. in accounting from Ferris State University.

“This is an exciting time for Vedanta and for the microbiome field,” said Mr. Ignelzi. “In this position, I look forward to helping the Vedanta team advance defined bacterial consortia as a new drug modality.”

About Vedanta Biosciences

Vedanta Biosciences is leading the development of a potential new category of oral therapies based on rationally defined consortia of bacteria derived from the human microbiome. The company’s clinical-stage pipeline includes product candidates being evaluated for the treatment of high-risk C. difficile infection, inflammatory bowel diseases, advanced or metastatic cancers, and food allergy. These investigational therapies are grounded in pioneering research – published in leading journals including Science, Nature, and Cell– to identify beneficial bacteria that live symbiotically within the healthy human gut, fight pathogens and induce a range of potent immune responses. Vedanta Biosciences controls a foundational portfolio of more than 40 patents and has built what is believed to be the world’s biggest library of bacteria derived from the human microbiome. Proprietary capabilities include deep expertise in consortium design, vast datasets from human interventional studies and cGMP-compliant manufacturing of oral live biotherapeutics containing pure, clonally derived bacterial consortia in powdered form. Vedanta Biosciences was founded by PureTech Health (LSE:PRTC, Nasdaq:PRTC) and a global team of scientific co-founders who pioneered Vedanta’s modern understanding of the cross-talk between the microbiome and the immune system.