Novus Therapeutics, Inc. Announces Management Changes
September 16, 2020 at 02:50 am IST
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Novus Therapeutics, Inc. announced that on September 9, 2020, David-Alexandre C. Gros, M.D. was appointed as the a director. Gros had been serving as an advisor to Novus since May 2020 and joined Novus from Imbria Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where since May 2018, he was Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and served on its board of directors, including as Chairman. Since November 2018, he has also served on the board of directors of Eliem Pharmaceuticals. He previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., from January to December 2017. On September 14, 2020, Steven N. Perrin, was appointed as the President and Chief Scientific Officer, in which capacity Dr. Perrin will report to Gros and will oversee the clinical, preclinical, regulatory and manufacturing activities of the combined companies and will be based in the Boston area. Dr. Perrin was also appointed as a director of Novus. Prior to joining Novus, Perrin, served as Chief Executive Officer of Anelixis Therapeutics since January 2013, and has been Executive Chairman of the ALS Therapy Development Institute since June 2010. Dr. Perrin also served as Chief Scientific Officer for ALS Therapy Development Institute from January 2007 to August 2018, and Associate Director of Molecular Profiling for Biogen Idec. from January 2005 to December 2006. Gros had been serving as an advisor to Novus since May 2020 and joined Novus from Imbria Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, where since May 2018, he was Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and served on its board of directors, including as Chairman. Since November 2018, he has also served on the board of directors of Eliem Pharmaceuticals. He previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., from January to December 2017. On September 14, 2020, Walter Ogier was appointed to the Novus board of directors. Ogier, has served as the Chairman of Anelixis since September 2017. Ogier has more than 30 years of experience developing therapeutic medical products ranging from pharmaceuticals to medical devices, stem and immune cell therapies, and gene therapies. From December 2016 to June 2017, Ogier served as President and CEO of Regenacy Pharmaceuticals, LLC and from December 2016 through March 2020, he was a member of Regenacy Pharmaceuticals’ Board of Directors. Effective September 9, 2020, Erez Chimovits resigned from the Board and any respective committee of the Board to which he was a member. The resignation was not the result of any disagreements with Novus relating to the Novus’ operations, policies or practices. In connection with the closing of the Merger, Gary A. Lyons and Walter Ogier were appointed to the audit committee of the Board, and John McBride was appointed the chair of the audit committee. In connection with the closing of the Merger, Walter Ogier was appointed to the compensation committee of the Board, and Gary A. Lyons was appointed the chair of the compensation committee. In connection with the closing of the Merger, John McBride was appointed to the nominating and corporate governance committee of the Board, and Keith A. Katkin was appointed the chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The Company is developing immune-modulating therapies for the management and treatment of life-threatening conditions. The Companyâs lead investigational product is tegoprubart, an anti-CD40L antibody with high affinity for CD40 Ligand, a well-validated biological target within the costimulatory CD40/CD40L cellular pathway. The central role of CD40L signaling in both adaptive and innate immune cell activation and function positions it as an attractive target for non-lymphocyte depleting, immunomodulatory therapeutic intervention. Tegoprubart is engineered to potentially both improve safety and provides pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and dosing advantages. CD40L is primarily expressed on activated CD4+ T cells, platelets, and endothelial cells while the CD40 receptor is constitutively expressed on antigen-presenting cells, such as macrophages and dendritic cells, as well as B cells.