WALTHAM, Mass. & VIENNA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arsanis, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of targeted monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for pre-emptive and post-infection treatment of serious infectious diseases, today announced that Rene Russo, Pharm.D., BCPS, has been promoted to president and chief executive officer.
Since joining Arsanis as chief development officer in August 2015, Dr. Russo spearheaded the strategy for clinical studies for Arsanis’ lead program, ASN100, aimed at the prevention and treatment of serious Staphylococcus aureus infections. Prior to Arsanis, Dr. Russo served as vice president, global medical affairs at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, with more than 10 years in increasingly senior roles within research and development at the company. She has leadership experience across all phases of drug development, including global commercial launches for five novel antibacterial agents.
“Rene brings a unique combination of corporate leadership, clinical development and commercial launch experience as she assumes the role of CEO at this important stage in the company’s evolution,” said Tillman Gerngross, Ph.D., co-founder, Arsanis and chairman of the board. “She and the entire Arsanis executive team are doing a remarkable job driving the momentum around the advancement of the company’s deep pipeline of monoclonal antibodies for serious infections.”
In addition to Dr. Russo’s appointment to CEO, David Mantus, Ph.D., has been appointed as chief development officer. In this role he will drive strategy and planning for the continued clinical development of ASN100, along with other earlier-stage pipeline candidates. Dr. Mantus joined Arsanis in 2015, bringing more than 20 years of experience in clinical development, regulatory affairs and quality assurance, including as vice president, regulatory affairs at Cubist Pharmaceuticals.
Arsanis has also recently recruited Ed Campanaro as senior vice president, clinical operations to oversee Arsanis' global clinical trials. Prior to joining Arsanis, Mr. Campanaro served as vice president, clinical operations and data management for bluebird bio. Mr. Campanaro was also vice president, clinical development operations at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw complex, global clinical operations programs for a portfolio of therapies for serious infectious diseases.
“I am honored to be leading such a well-respected team within the infectious diseases field,” said Dr. Russo. “Monoclonal antibodies offer new ways to prevent and treat serious infections, improve patient outcomes and address the critical problem of antibiotic resistance. Over the past five years, the Arsanis team, led by Eszter Nagy, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder and chief scientific officer, has assembled an unparalleled body of supporting research and built a leading pipeline of monoclonal antibodies to address infections. With this strong foundation, Arsanis is poised to make a tremendous impact on how serious infections are managed, particularly by introducing pre-emptive immunotherapy, an approach we are pursuing with our lead clinical-stage candidate, ASN100.”
Arsanis plans to advance ASN100 to Phase II clinical testing in 2016. More than one million people are mechanically ventilated every year in the United States, and approximately one-third of these patients become heavily colonized in their airways with S. aureus, placing them at high risk of developing life-threatening pneumonia. Arsanis’ approach of pre-emptive immunotherapy – intervention in high-risk patients before a heavily colonized person develops S. aureus pneumonia – has the potential to shift the way Gram-positive infections are addressed. Arsanis also continues to advance earlier-stage mAb candidates targeting specific mechanisms of Gram-negative and Gram-positive infections.
About Arsanis, Inc.
Arsanis is a clinical-stage company
leading the development of targeted monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for
pre-emptive and post-infection treatment of serious infectious diseases.
The company’s current programs address pathogenic processes selectively,
rather than aiming to broadly eliminate bacteria, potentially allowing
Arsanis to address critical infections without contributing to the
problem of antibiotic resistance. The company is building a broad
product pipeline addressing the most important Gram-positive and
Gram-negative bacterial pathogens threatening hospitalized and high-risk
patients. Its lead therapeutic candidate, ASN100, is aimed at the
prevention and treatment of serious Staphylococcus aureus
infections and entered a Phase I clinical trial in the fall in 2015,
with a Phase II study anticipated to begin in 2016.
Arsanis is a U.S. company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, with European research and preclinical development operations headquartered in Vienna, Austria (Arsanis Biosciences GmbH).
For more information, please visit the Arsanis website at www.arsanis.com.
