OSS, the Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citryll, a clinical-stage biotech company developing first-in-class therapeutics to treat immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, today announced the appointment of Eduardo Bravo as Chief Executive Officer. Over the course of his extensive career in the biopharmaceutical sector, Mr. Bravo has held multiple CEO positions, including in the autoimmune space, and served as Chair on various Boards, guiding life science companies through different phases of corporate growth and leading successful transactions including financing rounds, strategic partnerships and acquisitions. In addition, Citryll has appointed Tim Schenk, Ph.D., as Chief Business Officer. Dr. Schenk brings with him a broad background in business and commercial development across the life sciences industry.
These appointments come at a key juncture for Citryll as the company has recently completed the healthy volunteer studies for its lead Neutrophil Extracellular Trap-targeting antibody, CIT-013, and is transitioning into the next stage of clinical development with the initiation of Phase 2 proof-of-concept trials in rheumatoid arthritis and hidradenitis suppurativa, which are planned for 2024. As Mr. Bravo steps into the CEO role, Eric Meldrum, Ph.D., will fully resume his position as Chief Scientific Officer at Citryll.
"Eduardo’s and Tim’s extensive experience will be extraordinarily valuable to the Citryll team. With the addition of these industry experts with strong track records, we have composed a leadership team that is well-positioned to successfully reach the next stage of clinical and corporate development for the company," said Paul Peter Tak, M.D., Ph.D., FMedSci, Chair of Citryll’s Board of Directors. "We would like to thank Eric for leading the organization as interim CEO in addition to his CSO responsibilities and look forward to the whole team’s contributions for the upcoming Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trials.”
“Citryll's profound understanding of the neutrophil extracellular trap pathway represents a unique opportunity to develop a new treatment modality for autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases,” said Eduardo Bravo, CEO of Citryll. “I am excited to join this exceptional team and build on the extensive preclinical proof of concept and promising first in human clinical data to unravel the potential of CIT-013 in a range of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.”
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Editor’s Note
Eduardo Bravo’s Bio
Over the course of a three-decade career, Eduardo Bravo has held several leadership positions in the biopharmaceutical industry including CEO roles at Nordic Nanovector, TiGenix and Cellerix. During his time at TiGenix, Eduardo led the company through several successful financing rounds, facilitated its IPO on NASDAQ, and ultimately oversaw its acquisition by Takeda. Before joining TiGenix’s predecessor, Cellerix, Eduardo held senior management positions at Sanofi-Aventis and SmithKline Beecham. Most recently, he was the CEO of EBAC, an EQT-backed SPAC that successfully merged with the clinical-stage Swiss biotech Oculis in March 2023. Mr. Bravo holds a degree in Business Administration and an MBA from INSEAD. Between 2016 and 2018 he served as President of the European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises Board of Directors. Currently, Mr. Bravo is the Chairman of the Board at Vivet Therapeutics, Engitix and Ariceum Therapeutics.
Dr. Tim Schenk’s Bio
Dr. Tim Schenk has over two decades of industry experience in business and commercial development from management positions in diverse organizations, ranging from early-stage startups to mid-size biotech and big pharma. Previously Dr. Schenk worked for eight years in the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) where he served as General Manager of Janssen Finland, as well as Commercial Director for Janssen Nordics and Head of Oncology for Germany. Prior to this, Dr. Schenk held positions at Crucell, starting as Business Development Director, led the global vaccine business unit and later took the role of General Manager of Crucell Switzerland. During his Ph.D., Dr. Schenk was instrumental in the development of the successful biotech startup, Screentec, which later became Kiadis Pharma. Dr. Schenk holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and a Master’s Degree in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Leiden, as well as an MBA from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
For additional details on the biographies of the entire leadership team, visit the Citryll corporate website: www.citryll.com.
About Citryll
Citryll has translated a deep understanding of the neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) pathway to therapeutically address its central role in a broad range of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. With a unique dual mode of action, and proprietary NET biomarker assays, the company’s lead antibody, CIT-013, has reached the clinic by demonstrating a precise and powerful ability to control NETs and NETosis. Citryll is initially developing CIT-013 as a novel drug for rheumatoid arthritis and hidradenitis suppurativa, which may serve as enabling indications for a wide spectrum of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The initial clinical trials with CIT-013 are expected to provide the foundation for a new treatment paradigm for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Citryll was founded in 2015 by the late Jos Raats of Modiquest, Citryll’s CTO Renato Chirivi and Helmuth van Es.
