GENEVA & LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GeNeuro SA, a pioneer of new therapies for neurology and autoimmune disorders, announced today that Gordon S. Francis, MD, and Giacomo Di Nepi have agreed to join its Board of Directors.
“We feel privileged and honored to have Gordon and Giacomo, two extremely well-respected industry leaders, join our Board,” said Jesùs Martin-Garcia, Chairman of GeNeuro. “Gordon’s expertise in developing novel treatments against MS will help GeNeuro in moving the development of GNbAC1, the first drug addressing a causal factor of the disease, through its next stages of clinical development.”
Mr. Martin-Garcia added: “Giacomo brings to GeNeuro pharmaceutical and biotech industry leadership expertise that is invaluable as we grow. His knowledge of building companies and product franchises will help us not only expand as a company but move product development beyond our lead program into other key therapeutic areas.”
Dr. Gordon Francis is a neurologist with outstanding expertise in developing treatments for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In his distinguished career, he has played a key role in the approval of several leading MS treatments, including Gilenya®, the world’s first oral treatment for MS, at Novartis, Tysabri® at Elan and Rebif® for Serono. Dr. Francis started his career in MS at McGill University in Montreal where he headed the MS Clinical Research Center at the Montreal Neurological Institute and followed a neuro-immunology fellowship at UCSF. He earned his medical degree at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Dr. Francis commented that: “GeNeuro proposes to fight MS through a completely novel approach that could bring new benefits to patients. I look forward to supporting the exploration of this innovative approach in the upcoming clinical trials.”
Giacomo Di Nepi was most recently Executive Vice President and Managing Director for InterMune in Europe, where he was responsible for building the European organization and leading the launch of Esbriet®. Before InterMune, Mr Di Nepi was CEO of Takeda Pharmaceuticals and before held various roles with Novartis in Europe and the United States. Mr. Di Nepi’s early career included 16 years as a Partner with McKinsey & Co. Mr. Di Nepi holds a degree in Economics from Bocconi University, Milan, Italy and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.
Mr. Di Nepi explained: “I was attracted to GeNeuro because of its fascinating technology that is already translating into novel product candidates, as well as its strong group of shareholders sharing the ambition to become one of the success stories in the European biotech space.”
About GeNeuro and its technology
GeNeuro was created in 2006 by Eclosion, the Geneva life sciences accelerator, as a spin-off of Institut Mérieux. It develops first-in-class therapies against diseases associated with the expression of pathogenic proteins of human endogenous retroviral origin (HERV). GeNeuro’s lead product, GNbAC1, is a therapeutic antibody that targets MSRV-Env, a protein expressed in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) lesions from an early stage, which has been shown to be both pro-inflammatory and an inhibitor of remyelination, the two major drivers of MS progression.
The Multiple Sclerosis associated retrovirus (MSRV) is normally latent in the genome of individuals, but it can be re-activated by viral infections and other co-factors to express a pathogenic protein, MSRV-Env. MSRV-Env provides the missing link between the observation that viral infections are associated with the onset of the disease and expression of the pathogenic factor (the MSRV-Env protein), which can then explain the inflammatory and demyelinating characteristics of MS.
By targeting MSRV-Env, GeNeuro expects to bring to patients a safe, long-term treatment that can halt progression of the disease, addressing both the inflammatory and demyelinating mechanisms relevant for all forms of MS. As the first drug addressing a causal factor of the disease, it will radically change the way MS patients are treated.
As the leader in HERV targeted therapeutics, Geneuro is organizing on May 26-27, 2015 in Lyon the first International Scientific Conference on “Human Endogenous RetroViruses (HERV) and Disease”.
Further information can be found at: www.geneuro.com.
