Senior Advisor
Karen Aiach is the Founder and CEO of Lysogene (Euronext: LYS), a gene therapy company focused on the treatment of orphan diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The company has built a unique capability to enable a safe and effective delivery of gene therapies to the CNS to treat lysosomal diseases and other genetic disorders of the CNS.
Karen’s experience in leading Lysogene as the team developed its lead product for MPS IIIA, also known as Sanfilippo syndrome (a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder considered to be a perfect model for gene therapy), and in expanding Lysogene’s pipeline to other rare diseases, together with her experience with patient advocacy groups, has allowed her to develop an extensive knowledge of the orphan development space and to become a leading expert in the field.
In 2015, Karen received the W.I.T.H. (Women Innovating Together in Healthcare Association) Woman of the Year Award and Lysogene. In 2016, she is invited by Harvard Business School to present her story and Lysogene.
Karen graduated from the ESSEC Business School and majored in Economics. Her interest for rare diseases stems from the fact that she is the mother of a child with MPS IIIA.