Thomas Christély steps down as Silence Therapeutics CEO after five months

Thomas Christély has resigned from his role as CEO at Silence Therapeutics after only five months.

The UK-based company, which develops gene therapeutic technology based on RNA interference, said Christély made the decision for personal reasons and will be replaced by chief business officer Tony Sedgwick.

Christély was only appointed CEO in September 2011, having previously held the role of CEO at Silence Therapeutics AG - a subsidiary of Silence formed following its merger with Atugen AG in 2005.

The company's new CEO, Sedgwick, joined Silence in September 2011 to lead a new business development team.

Prior to this role, he was CEO of UK drug-discovery firm Novacta and chair of the Norwegian biotech company Plastid.

Tony Sedgwick

His extensive career in the pharma industry has also seen him spend more than 15 years at Roche, including global head clinical operations.

Jerry Randall, chair of Silence, said Sedgwick had made a “very positive impact” since joining the company and had the right leadership skills for the role. Randall also thanked the departing Christély for his services.

In his own comment, Sedgwick declared his intentions concerning the future of Silence, singling out its investigational cancer therapy Atu027 as a product with potential against a range of tumour types.

He said: “Over the next few years, I intend to increase the commercial focus of the company, harness the RNAi therapeutics opportunity and, as a result, create substantial shareholder value.”