GHENT, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Agomab Therapeutics NV (‘Agomab’), a company developing differentiated programs with disease-modifying potential in fibrotic diseases, announced today the appointment of Angelika Jahreis, MD, PhD, as an independent non-executive director to Agomab’s Board of Directors, while Andrea Sáez, PhD, will join Agomab’s executive leadership team as Chief Development Officer. As part of the next growth phase of the company, Paolo Michieli, PhD, (Founder and formerly Chief Scientific Officer) and Torsten Dreier, PhD, (previously Chief Development Officer) will continue at Agomab as senior advisors and members of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
“Angelika’s extensive experience and deep knowledge as a senior drug developer will be of great value to the Board and our company. Additionally, our new CDO Andrea has been a driving force in the development of our clinical pipeline, and I very much look forward to working with her as part of the executive leadership team,” said Tim Knotnerus, Chief Executive Officer at Agomab Therapeutics. “Paolo and Torsten have been key figures in the early phases of the company’s formation as well as its progress to date, and I look forward to working with them both in their new roles as senior advisors and members of the SAB.”
“Agomab is building a leading company in the field of fibrotic diseases thanks to their innovative programs targeting ALK5 and MET,” said Angelika Jahreis, non-executive director at Agomab Therapeutics. “Fibrostenosing Crohn’s Disease and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis are areas of very high unmet medical need and with significant pharma interest.”
Andrea Sáez, Chief Development Officer at Agomab Therapeutics, added: “Joining the executive team at this exciting moment of company growth enables me to continue to contribute to the progress of Agomab’s broader pipeline on our trajectory toward serving patients in high need of novel therapies.”
Angelika Jahreis is a purpose-driven physician scientist with over 20 years of drug development expertise at Novartis, Gilead, Genentech and Amgen, currently serving as SVP, Development Unit Head of Immunology at Novartis. She earned her MD/PhD from the University of Freiburg, Germany, conducted her postdoctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and has been honored to serve as a panel member at the FDA JIA Registry and Osteoarthritis Drug Development Workshops.
Andrea Sáez was COO/CSO at Origo Biopharma where she led the development of ALK5 inhibitor programs through preclinical and early clinical stages. Following the acquisition of Origo by Agomab in late 2021, she was Head of Portfolio at Agomab and led the development of AGMB-129 into Phase 2 trials. Andrea initiated her academic career with a PhD in Immunology at the Pompeu Fabra University followed by postdoctoral research at Vall d’Hebron Hospital where she published on the therapeutic benefit of TGF-ß inhibitors in cancer. She gained deep understanding of regulatory affairs through supporting various biotechs in CMC, preclinical and clinical regulatory topics in her role as Regulatory Affairs Manager at a leading consultancy firm, after which she became R&D Director at Pangaea Oncology. Prior to joining Origo Biopharma, Andrea was a Senior Associate at Asabys Partners, supporting several biotech investments, including the investment in Origo.
About Agomab
Agomab is translating a deep expertise in growth factor biology to pioneer and develop novel treatments that aim to resolve fibrosis, repair tissue structure and restore organ function. Combining new scientific insights with robust drug development and a long-term corporate vision, we are building a broad clinical pipeline of differentiated programs with disease modifying potential in fibrotic diseases.
