Vertero Appoints Jeffrey Kasten as Chief Business Officer
Life sciences veteran joins Vertero’s executive leadership team to drive strategic partnerships and accelerate portfolio strategy in neurodegenerative disease
WOBURN, Mass., Dec. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vertero Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company breaking barriers in neurodegenerative disease treatment, today announced the appointment of Jeffrey S. Kasten as Chief Business Officer. In this role, Mr. Kasten is responsible for driving business development, strategic partnerships, corporate and portfolio strategy, and commercialization planning. His leadership will support the advancement of the Company’s pipeline focused on neurodegenerative diseases, with its lead program for Parkinson’s disease, VT-5006, now in a Phase 1 clinical study.
“I am thrilled to welcome Jeff to the Vertero team. His strategic acumen and track record of successfully cultivating partnerships and advancing pipeline growth are impressive and highly relevant to our mission,” said Stewart Campbell, Ph.D., CEO of Vertero. “Jeff is not only a great cultural addition to our team, he also brings an important perspective to help sharpen our strategic development focus as we work to make an impact on patients and their families affected by neurodegenerative diseases.”
“This is a perfect time to join Vertero as it launches its first-in-human clinical studies for what could be a groundbreaking therapy for neurodegenerative diseases,” said Mr. Kasten. “Vertero’s approach is truly innovative. While I have worked with many drugs that treat the symptoms of neurological diseases, I am excited to advance a program that could profoundly modify the trajectory of the disease. I look forward to working with this talented team of dedicated professionals whose expertise is matched only by their passion to deliver transformational therapies to patients with urgent unmet needs.”
Mr. Kasten brings more than two decades of experience in the life sciences industry spanning corporate strategy, portfolio strategy, and business development across leading biopharmaceutical organizations. Prior to Vertero, he served as Vice President of Corporate/Portfolio Strategy and Business Development at Sage Therapeutics, where he helped shape enterprise strategy, optimize portfolio decisions, and advance key external growth initiatives. Before Sage, he spent 11 years at Biogen in senior commercial and strategic marketing roles, providing commercial leadership across early- and late-stage pipeline assets and steering commercial assessments that informed key business development initiatives. Mr. Kasten began his career at Bain & Company, where he advised clients across a wide range of industries including biopharma, with time allocated to the Bain Private Equity Group. He later joined Putnam Associates to focus exclusively on strategic consulting projects in biopharmaceuticals, deepening his expertise in commercial and portfolio strategy. Mr. Kasten holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.S. from the University of Vermont.
About Vertero
Vertero Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company pioneering science beyond the brain to treat neurodegenerative diseases at their source. Vertero’s development pipeline of differentiated therapies targets the peripheral nervous system to delay onset and slow progression of challenging conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The company's lead program currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial is VT-5006, designed to precisely treat a validated target in the gut that feeds the protein aggregation and inflammation implicated in Parkinson’s disease. The company also has an asset targeting bile acid dysregulation in early development for undisclosed indications. For more information, visit www.vertero.com or LinkedIn.
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