Sio Gene Therapies Inc. announced the Company has appointed David Nassif, J.D., its Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel, as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with the resignation of its CEO, Dr. Pavan Cheruvu, M.D., who is leaving the company to pursue new opportunities. A search committee of the Sio Board will consider both internal and external candidates to identify a permanent successor CEO with the assistance of a leading executive search firm. David Nassif, J.D., has served as Sio's Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel since July 2019, and has more than 25 years of life sciences industry experience in executive financial management roles in development-stage, commercial-stage, public and private companies.

Prior to joining Sio, Mr. Nassif was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of SteadyMed Therapeutics, a specialty pharmaceutical company, where he was instrumental in its initial public offering in 2015 and in its acquisition by United Therapeutics in August 2018. From 2011 to 2014, Mr. Nassif served as the President and Chief Financial Officer of Histogen, a regenerative medicine company, where he also oversaw manufacturing and quality systems. Previously, he was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Financial Officer of Zogenix, a CNS-focused specialty pharmaceutical company and the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and Head of Business Development at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, a leading generic and specialty pharmaceutical company, where he originated three company-defining strategic transactions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Nassif held various positions with Cypros Pharmaceuticals, where he was instrumental in leading its merger with Ribogene Inc. to form Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. He holds a BS in finance and management information systems with honors from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.