# Andrea Ashford-Hicks

> Andrea Ashford-Hicks is the CEO of Cayuga Biotech, an early-stage platform biotechnology company developing biomimetic polyphosphate therapies for severe bleeding. She joined in 2022 after two decades in biopharma, including leading the FDA approval and commercial launch of RETHYMIC at Enzyvant Therapeutics and progressive roles at Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Agenus, EMD Serono and Schering-Plough. She holds dual degrees in biology and finance from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Cayuga Biotech
- **Organizations:** Cayuga Biotech, AJ Ashford Consulting, LLC, Enzyvant Therapeutics, Agenus, EMD Serono, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Schering-Plough
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA, Biology, University of Pennsylvania (College of Arts and Sciences), BS, Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Led the FDA approval and commercial launch of RETHYMIC, an allogeneic processed thymus tissue therapy for pediatric congenital athymia., Contributed to multiple regulatory approvals and product launches (IND, BLA, NDA) over 20-plus years in biopharma., Appointed CEO of Cayuga Biotech to lead development of its polyphosphate hemorrhage-control platform.

## Career timeline

- **2022** — Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Cayuga Biotech, succeeding founder Damien Kudela, PhD, who moved to Chief Science Officer.
- **2021** — As SVP of Late-Stage Development & Commercialization at Enzyvant, led RETHYMIC to FDA approval for pediatric congenital athymia.
- **earlier** — Held progressive leadership roles at Agenus, EMD Serono, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Schering-Plough.
- **ongoing** — Founder of AJ Ashford Consulting, LLC.

## Achievements

- Led the FDA approval and commercial launch of RETHYMIC, an allogeneic processed thymus tissue therapy for pediatric congenital athymia.
- Contributed to multiple regulatory approvals and product launches (IND, BLA, NDA) over 20-plus years in biopharma.
- Appointed CEO of Cayuga Biotech to lead development of its polyphosphate hemorrhage-control platform.
- Part of a Cayuga team whose collective experience spans the discovery, development and commercialization of more than 50 drugs.

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Cayuga Biotech reported a Seed funding raise of about $8M, bringing total funding to roughly $9.98M.

## Links

- Website: https://cayugabiotech.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ashford-hicks/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/andrea-ashford-hicks
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-25