NodThera
(“NodThera” or the “Company”)
NodThera announces the appointment of Adam Keeney PhD as President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr Keeney joins NodThera with over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, including most recently at Sanofi and prior to that at Johnson & Johnson
Cambridge, UK and Boston, MA, 24 September 2018. NodThera, a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of next generation NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors for the treatment of diseases driven by chronic inflammation, today announces the appointment of Adam Keeney PhD as President and Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect. Adam will join the NodThera Board of Directors and will also establish a new office for the Company in the Boston, MA area. Alan Watt, who has been Chief Scientific Officer and acting as interim Chief Executive Officer of the Company since its inception, will now resume his role as full-time CSO.
Dr Keeney has over 20 years of international experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He joins NodThera from Sanofi Genzyme, where he served as Global Head of Sanofi Genzyme Business Development. In this role, he was responsible for leading all of Sanofi Genzyme’s business development activities, including early and late stage deals, supporting each of Sanofi’s specialty care therapeutic areas which include Immunology, Neurology, Oncology, Rare Diseases and Rare Blood Disorders. Dr Keeney was also Chair of the internal governance body that oversaw the review, prioritisation and execution of all external R&D investments, as well as management of the external research budget.
Previously, Dr Keeney worked at Johnson & Johnson where he held a number of roles with increasing responsibility eventually becoming Site Head of the Johnson & Johnson California Innovation Center, catalysing early stage innovation across J&J’s pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer businesses. Dr Keeney started his career as a research scientist at H. Lundbeck A/S. He holds a PhD in Neuropharmacology from the University of Nottingham, UK.
Henrijette Richter PhD, Managing Partner, Sofinnova Partners and Chair of the Board of Directors of NodThera, said: “Attracting a CEO of Adam’s calibre is a testament to the exciting potential of NodThera and its novel approach to creating treatments for a range of diseases driven by chronic inflammation. The broad applicability of NodThera’s product candidates requires a leadership team that has considerable expertise in leading a rapid development pathway and proactive and productive partnering and collaboration strategy. With the appointment of Adam today, the Board of NodThera strongly believes that a world-class management team has been established to guide NodThera through its next phase of growth.
“I would like to thank Alan for his excellent and dedicated work as interim CEO. He will now resume his role as CSO with the Company following a smooth transition to Adam.”
Adam Keeney PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of NodThera, added: “Selective NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition is one of the most promising areas to treat diseases caused by chronic inflammation. I believe that NodThera’s next generation approach has the potential to bring new treatment options to patients across a wide range of therapeutic areas. With offices in both the UK and the US, NodThera is establishing a truly global business, well positioned to push the frontiers of inflammation research with access to the very best talent in the field. I am excited to be working together with our highly experienced management team, Scientific Advisory Board and our experienced international Board of Directors to establish NodThera as a world-leader in NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition.”
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For more information about NodThera please contact:
NodThera
Tel: +44 (0) 7928 555460
Email: info@nodthera.com
Consilium Strategic Communications
Amber Fennell, Alexandra Harrison, Melissa Gardiner
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
Email: nodthera@consilium-comms.com
About NodThera
NodThera is a private biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of next generation NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors for the treatment of diseases driven by chronic inflammation. The Company is led by a strong management team that combines a deep understanding of NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition with extensive pharmaceutical experience of drug discovery and development. NodThera is building a pipeline of small molecule NLRP3 inhibitors through a highly differentiated, next generation approach that builds on and enhances existing understanding of NLRP3 biochemistry and its role in inflammation. The Company’s investors include Sofinnova Partners, 5AM Ventures, Epidarex Capital and F-Prime Capital Partners. Selvita, which spun the Company out of its immunology research platform in August 2016, remains a shareholder. NodThera maintains offices in Cambridge, UK, Seattle, WA and Boston, MA. For more information please visit: www.nodthera.com
About NLRP3 inhibitors
NLRP3-driven chronic inflammation is known to be the root cause of a wide range of debilitating diseases. Inflammasomes are multi-protein complexes that initiate an innate immune response in the body. Chronic inflammation can occur when inflammasomes are inappropriately activated by ‘danger’ signals in the body, leading to a number of diseases such as neurodegeneration, certain cancers, metabolic, cardiovascular and immune-inflammatory diseases. NLRP3 inflammasomes are uniquely activated by a wide range of these ‘danger’ signals, and specific inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome has the potential to treat the chronic inflammation that drives these diseases. Selective NLRP3 inhibitors offer safety advantages, as they leave the rest of the innate immune response intact to respond to infection. NLRP3 inhibitors can be made to target different tissues and organs thereby giving a broad disease application, and they can be taken orally providing a simple treatment regimen for patients.