SUZHOU, Jiangsu, China — Ractigen Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that Dr. Harri Järveläinen has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Company.

“I am thrilled to join Ractigen as the Company prepares to initiate clinical studies in multiple indications,” said Dr. Järveläinen. “With the outstanding team – deeply experienced in oligonucleotide therapeutics – and a compelling pipeline and robust operational infrastructure, I believe we have a unique opportunity to be the leaders in novel RNA modalities globally.”

In commenting on the appointment, Dr. Long-Cheng Li, Founder, President and the CEO said, “We are delighted that Dr. Järveläinen has chosen to join our organization, bringing a skill set which is entirely relevant to the long-term needs of our rapidly growing company.”

Prior to joining Ractigen, Dr. Järveläinen built and transformed a San Diego -based academic startup into a clinical-stage biotech Cend Therapeutics, with the lead product CEND-1 now being tested in multiple mid-to-late-stage clinical trials. Cend was listed in Nasdaq as Lisata Therapeutics ($LSTA) in September 2022.

During his 20-year pharmaceutical industry career, Dr. Järveläinen has held various progressively senior-level roles at AstraZeneca, Nestle and Pharmaron. His track record includes more than 50 development programs, taking programs from discovery into late clinical development, leading preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing, business development, fundraising, and project management.

Dr. Järveläinen earned his Veterinary Medicine and PhD degrees from University of Helsinki and completed postdoctoral training at New York University Medical Center (New York, NY) and Max Planck Institute (Berlin, Germany). He received his MBA degree from the University of New South Wales and holds an Adjunct Professorship (Toxicology) at University of Helsinki. He is an author of >40 peer-reviewed scientific publications, patents, book chapters.