SLN.L Regulatory News (SLN)

15 December 2014

Silence Therapeutics plc

Appointment of Head of Research and Development

Silence Therapeutics plc, AIM: SLN ('Silence' or 'the Company'), a leader in the discovery, development and delivery of novel RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases, has appointed Dr Lars Karlsson as Head of Research and Development from 5 January 2015. He will also join the board as an executive director.

A medical doctor by training, Lars has over 20 years' experience in research and development within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He joins Silence from multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk where he was the Vice President for Auto-Immune Disease Pharmacology, responsible for all inflammatory research within Denmark. He was previously Head of Translational Immunology at Norvo Nordisk where he built up a translational research unit focused on disease relevance and adequate dosing of new compounds entering clinical trials.

Prior to this, Lars was also Vice President of Immunology and Fibrosis at micro RNA therapeutics company, Regulus Therapeutics, where he was operationally responsible for research alliances with Sanofi and with GSK. He also spent 11 years working for Johnson & Johnson.

Ali Mortazavi, CEO of Silence Therapeutics, said:

"Lars is a crucial addition to our team. He brings with him the depth of experience in drug development that can help Silence implement its transition from technology to products."

Dr Lars Karlsson said:

"RNA therapeutics are becoming a major new class of drug and I am excited to be joining a leader in this field, with Silence's proven and world class technology. I look forward to helping shape the next stage in its progress."

Lars Karlsson, formerly Lars Georg Emanuel Liljedahl, age 54, has no further disclosures pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules.

Enquiries:

About Silence Therapeutics

Silence Therapeutics is a leading RNA interference (RNAi) or 'gene silencing' platform technology company which has proprietary delivery systems. Combined, RNAi and delivery platforms enable the development of multiple products to multiple drug targets allowing the development of novel therapeutics for diseases with high unmet medical need.

Silence is one of only a handful of listed companies globally which has human validated RNA delivery technology. Its RNAi is one of the safest and most widely tested, with over 400 patients dosed and no immune response observed so far. Silence's RNAi has been used in three Phase 2 clinical trials, two of which are awaiting results. It also has a robust IP estate protecting its proprietary technology.