DURHAM, NC – Altis Biosystems, Inc., developer of RepliGut®, a technology platform that produces a layer of human intestinal stem or differentiated cells of either the small intestine or colon, announced the appointment of Bill Thelin, Ph.D. to the role of Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Thelin brings over 15 years of scientific experience to Altis and will coordinate research, new platform development and validation efforts.

“I am extraordinarily pleased that Bill is joining our team,” said Michael Biron, CEO of Altis. “His deep experience in developing platforms, drugs, and leveraging strategic partnerships will further strengthen our biology research engine and provide critical scientific vision to support the successful advancement of our pipeline of RepliGut® platforms.”

Prior to joining Altis, Bill served as the Vice President of Research at Parion Sciences. In his tenure at Parion, he helped to build a portfolio of novel, first-in-class therapeutic programs for pulmonary and ophthalmic diseases, which collectively raised >$150M in corporate partnerships and non-dilutive funding through NIH grants. He received a Ph.D. in Cell Biology at the University of North Carolina and was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Richard Boucher at the UNC Cystic Fibrosis Center. Prior to Altis, his scientific expertise focused on epithelial ion channel and receptor pharmacology, mucosal disease, and targeted drug discovery.

Altis Biosystems was founded to address the biopharmaceutical industry's intense need for more accurate drug screening methods using in vitro platforms, which can more closely replicate human biology. Altis developed its intestinal platform to be the next generation for in vitro testing during drug development, allowing scientists to develop safer and more effective drugs using normal human intestinal tissue, and reducing the time and cost of drug discovery.