Bethany Mancilla
Latus Bio has appointed biotechnology industry veteran Bethany Mancilla as Chief Business Officer, strengthening its leadership team as the company advances its lead Huntington’s disease gene therapy candidate toward clinical development and expands business development efforts around its platform and pipeline.
The Philadelphia- and Boston-based biotechnology company said Mancilla will lead corporate development, strategic partnerships and growth initiatives as Latus moves closer to becoming a clinical-stage organization. The appointment comes as the company prepares LTS-201, its lead program for Huntington’s disease, for clinical advancement while pursuing additional opportunities across its gene therapy portfolio.
“Bethany joins Latus at a defining moment as we advance LTS-201 toward the clinic for Huntington’s disease and continue to build out our pipeline and partnering opportunities,” said P. Peter Ghoroghchian, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Latus Bio. “Bethany has spent her career translating differentiated science into high-value transactions. Her leadership will be integral as we advance our strategy and pursue partnerships that extend the reach of our programs and platform for patients with high unmet needs.”
Mancilla brings extensive experience in biotechnology corporate development, licensing and strategic transactions, with particular expertise in gene therapy and central nervous system (CNS) disorders. She joins Latus from Capsida Biotherapeutics, where she served as Chief Business Officer and oversaw corporate development, strategy and partnership activities. During her tenure, the company secured transactions that generated more than $250 million in non-dilutive funding.
Her appointment reflects the growing importance of partnerships and external financing in advancing gene therapy programs, which often require substantial investment in research, manufacturing and clinical development. For emerging biotechnology companies, experienced business development leadership can play a critical role in securing strategic collaborations and capital while expanding the commercial reach of novel technologies.
Before joining Capsida, Mancilla held senior leadership positions at Cue Biopharma, Kite Pharma and Amgen. During more than six years at Amgen, she advanced through a series of leadership roles before becoming Vice President of Business Development. In that position, she led a global team responsible for licensing, co-development and mergers and acquisitions activities across multiple therapeutic areas and technology platforms, including CNS-focused programs.
Earlier in her career, Mancilla served as Vice President of Business Development at Micromet, where she helped establish the strategic partnership that ultimately led to Amgen’s acquisition of the company. She also held business development leadership roles at PharmAthene and Gene Logic and began her career at BCM Technologies, the commercialization subsidiary of Baylor College of Medicine. There, she supported the formation and financing of four biotechnology startup companies.
Mancilla said she was attracted to Latus by both its scientific approach and its potential to expand gene therapy beyond traditionally limited patient populations.
“Latus is at a true inflection point as it transitions into a clinical-stage company,” she said. “LTS-201 represents a fundamentally differentiated approach to Huntington’s disease, targeting the somatic instability that drives disease progression while preserving the non-mutated allele.”
She added that the company’s platform is designed to support scalable precision gene therapies across larger patient populations while creating opportunities for additional programs and novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid technologies.
Latus Bio is developing gene therapies for central nervous system and peripheral diseases using proprietary AAV capsid variants designed to improve targeting, potency and specificity. The company’s platform supports a pipeline of disease-modifying therapies aimed at conditions with significant unmet medical needs.
As gene therapy developers continue to seek more efficient delivery systems and broader commercial applications, companies with scalable platforms and differentiated targeting technologies are attracting increased interest from pharmaceutical partners and investors. Latus’ decision to add an experienced business development executive signals a focus on translating its research platform into strategic collaborations that can support clinical development and long-term growth.
Mancilla holds an M.B.A. from the University of Houston and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.