Silence Therapeutics Announces Leadership Change

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Silence Therapeutics Announces Leadership Change

4 June 2018

Silence Therapeutics plc, AIM:SLN ("Silence" or "the Company") a leader in the discovery, delivery and development of novel RNA therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases, announces today that Ali Mortazavi is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of the Company with immediate effect after having served the Company for six years. Dr Annalisa Jenkins, Chair of Silence Therapeutics, is today assuming the role of Executive Chair in an interim capacity to ensure a smooth transition until a new Chief Executive Officer is appointed.

Annalisa Jenkins, Executive Chair of the Board of Directors, said: "On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Ali for his achievements and commitment to Silence over the past six years. Under his leadership Silence has built an experienced international executive team with significant RNAi expertise that has established a strong IP and technology platform in GalNAC-based siRNA. We believe today that our RNAi platform and R&D capabilities offer an opportunity to advance our lead programme in iron metabolism towards the clinic and to establish research partnerships that will maximise shareholder value. We wish Ali every success in his future endeavours."

Dr Jenkins, MBBS, FRCP, joined Silence as Non-Executive Chair in October 2017. She is the CEO of Plaquetec and serves on a number of UK and International Life Science boards. She has 25 years of international experience in building and leading teams that advanced programmes from scientific research through clinical development, regulatory approval and into healthcare systems globally. Previous roles include positions as Head of Global R&D for Merck Serono and Head of Global Medical Affairs for Bristol-Myers Squibb. She also has recent experience in the fields of gene therapy and rare diseases, having served as the CEO of Dimension Therapeutics, Inc., until its acquisition in late 2017.

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About Silence Therapeutics plc

Silence Therapeutics is developing a new generation of medicines by harnessing the body's natural mechanism of RNA interference, or RNAi, within its cells. Our proprietary technology can selectively inhibit any gene in the genome, specifically silencing the production of disease-causing proteins. Using our enabling delivery systems, we have achieved an additional level of specificity by delivering our therapeutic RNA molecules exclusively to target cells. Silence's proprietary RNA chemistries and delivery systems are designed to improve the stability of our molecules and enhance effective delivery to target cells, providing a powerful modular technology well suited to tackle life-threatening diseases. For more information, please visit: http://www.silence-therapeutics.com/