TiGenix Appoints Dr. June Almenoff to its Board of Directors
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
PRESS RELEASE
TiGenix Appoints Dr. June Almenoff
to its Board of Directors
Leuven (BELGIUM) - September 22, 2016, 07:00h CET - TiGenix NV (Euronext
Brussels: TIG), an advanced biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and
commercializing novel therapeutics from its proprietary platforms of allogeneic
expanded stem cells, today announced that it has appointed June Almenoff, M.D.,
Ph.D., as a member of its Board of Directors in replacement of Dirk Reyn.
"Her background is a perfect fit for TiGenix, and the projects we have under
development. She has a strong clinical development record, and has successfully
led the process toward FDA approval for a GI product; experience with early-
stage development, scientific licensing and business development; an expertise
in infectious diseases, and a clear focus on the US market," said Eduardo Bravo,
CEO, TiGenix. "With Cx601 close to start its second pivotal Phase III study
towards BLA filing and the rest of the assets moving into mid to late stage
clinical development, June is a great complement to our outstanding Board of
Directors."
"I am very excited to be joining the Board of TiGenix," said Dr. June Almenoff.
"TiGenix currently has the most advanced cell therapy pipeline in Europe, with
positive pivotal Phase III data and European filing of their lead product
candidate, Cx601, announced earlier this year. The product has then been
licensed ex-US to Takeda. These are remarkable accomplishments. As a Board
member, I look forward to leveraging my clinical development and regulatory
experience with the FDA to move Cx601 along the pathway toward approval in the
US, as well as to advance the company's pipeline initiatives in acute myocardial
infarction and severe sepsis."
Dr. Almenoff is replacing Dirk Reyn (R&S Consulting BVBA), who is stepping down.
"I regretfully leave my position at TiGenix due to my increasing commitment to
eTheRNA immunotherapies, where I am CEO," said Dirk Reyn. "During my five-year
tenure as a Board member at TiGenix, together with the Management Team, we have
transformed the company, secured funding from marquee investors and achieved the
first ever positive pivotal trial with an allogeneic cell therapy product that
led to the very successful licensing agreement with Takeda. I am very proud of
the work we have done together."
"We have made tremendous progress during Dirk's tenure. We sincerely owe him our
gratitude for his help getting us to where we are today" said Jean Stéphenne,
Chairman of the Board of Directors of TiGenix. "As we march toward approval of
Cx601 in the US and we advance our pipeline in new and exciting indications I am
confident that Dr. June Almenoff, given her clinical development background and
experience working with the FDA, is the ideal person for our Board going
forward."
June S. Almenoff MD, PhD, is an accomplished pharmaceutical executive with close
to 20 years of industry experience. She has extensive expertise in clinical
development, translational medicine and business development. Dr. Almenoff
recently served as President, Principal Executive Officer and Chief Medical
Officer of Furiex Pharmaceuticals, a publicly held biopharma company. During
her 4-year tenure, the company's valuation increased ~10-fold, culminating in
its acquisition by Actavis plc (now Allergan) for ~$1.2B in 2014. Furiex's lead
product, eluxadoline (Viberzi TM), a novel gastrointestinal drug, received FDA
approval in 2015. Prior to joining Furiex, Dr. Almenoff was at GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK), where she held positions of increasing responsibility. During her 12
years at GSK, she was a Vice President in the R&D organization, chaired a PhRMA-
FDA working group and also worked in the area of scientific licensing. Dr.
Almenoff led the development of pioneering systems for minimizing risk in early-
and late-stage drug development which are now widely used by pharmaceutical
companies and regulatory agencies. Dr. Almenoff is currently an independent
biopharma consultant and Board Director: she is the Executive Chair of RDD
Pharma and a member of the Boards of Ohr Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: OHRP) and
Valanbio. She also serves on the investment advisory board of the Harrington
Discovery Institute (Case Western Univ.) and the advisory boards of Redhill
Biopharma (Nasdaq: RDHL) and numerous private companies. Dr. Almenoff received
her B.A. cum laude from Smith College and graduated with AOA honors from the
M.D.-Ph.D. program at the Icahn (Mt. Sinai) School of Medicine. She completed
post-graduate medical training at Stanford University Medical Center (Internal
Medicine, Infectious Diseases) and served on the faculty of Duke University
School of Medicine. She is an adjunct Professor at Duke and a Fellow of the
American College of Physicians.
The appointment of June Almenoff is effective immediately subject to final
appointment by the next shareholders' meeting.
For more information
Claudia D'Augusta
Chief Financial Officer
T: +34 91 804 92 64
claudia.daugusta(at)tigenix.com
About TiGenix
TiGenix NV (Euronext Brussels: TIG) is an advanced biopharmaceutical company
focused on developing and commercializing novel therapeutics from its
proprietary platforms of allogeneic, or donor-derived, expanded stem cells. Two
products from the adipose-derived stem cell technology platform are currently in
clinical development. Cx601 is in Phase III for the treatment of complex
perianal fistulas in Crohn's disease patients. Cx611 has completed a Phase I
sepsis challenge trial and a Phase I/II trial in rheumatoid arthritis. Effective
July 31, 2015, TiGenix acquired Coretherapix, whose lead cellular product,
AlloCSC-01, is currently in a Phase II clinical trial in acute myocardial
infarction (AMI). In addition, the second product candidate from the cardiac
stem cell-based platform acquired from Coretherapix, AlloCSC-02, is being
developed in a chronic indication. On July 4, 2016, TiGenix entered into a
licensing agreement with Takeda, a large pharmaceutical company active in
gastroenterology, under which Takeda acquired the exclusive right to
commercialize Cx601 for complex perianal fistulas outside the United States.
TiGenix is headquartered in Leuven (Belgium) and has operations in Madrid
(Spain). For more information, please visit http://www.tigenix.com.
Forward-looking information
This press release may contain forward-looking statements and estimates with
respect to the anticipated future performance of TiGenix and the market in which
it operates. Certain of these statements, forecasts and estimates can be
recognised by the use of words such as, without limitation, "believes",
"anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "seeks", "estimates", "may",
"will" and "continue" and similar expressions. They include all matters that are
not historical facts. Such statements, forecasts and estimates are based on
various assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors, which were deemed reasonable when made but may or may not
prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict and may depend upon
factors that are beyond the Company's control. Therefore, actual results, the
financial condition, performance or achievements of TiGenix, or industry
results, may turn out to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements, forecasts
and estimates. Given these uncertainties, no representations are made as to the
accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements, forecasts and
estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates only
speak as of the date of the publication of this press release. TiGenix disclaims
any obligation to update any such forward-looking statement, forecast or
estimates to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard
thereto, or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statement, forecast or estimate is based, except to the extent required by
Belgian law.
This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: TiGenix via GlobeNewswire
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 22.09.2016 - 07:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 496306
Anzahl Zeichen: 9832
contact information:
Town:
Leuven
Kategorie:
Business News
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 271 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"TiGenix Appoints Dr. June Almenoff to its Board of Directors"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
TiGenix (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
