Privately-held pharmaceutical company developing novel HDL therapies to treat cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases announces appointments to its new scientific advisory board
Cerenis Therapeutics announces the appointments of H Bryan Brewer, John JP Kastelein, and Jean-Claude Tardif, to its new scientific advisory board.
It also announced the appointment of Mark Skaletsky as independent director of the Cerenis board of directors.
Bryan Brewer is director of lipoprotein and atherosclerosis research at the Cardiovascular Research Institute, MedStar Research Institute, in Washington, DC.
As chief of the molecular disease branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) from 1976 to 2005, Brewer's research led to the first published sequences for human plasma apolipoproteins and the initial determination of plasma apolipoproteins metabolism in normal and hyperlipidemic individuals.
He also pioneered the use of transgenic vectors to identify genes that modulate lipoprotein metabolism.
John Kastelein, a world-renowned lipidologist, is professor of medicine and chairman of the department of vascular medicine at the University of Amsterdam.
Kastelein's research focuses on the molecular bases of hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia and low-HDL cholesterol.
He has published more than 400 articles about lipids and lipoproteins in leading medical publications.
He is also a founder of the Lipid Research Clinic at the Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam as well as the Dutch National Foundation for the Identification of Familial Hypercholesterolemia.
Jean-Claude Tardif is associate professor at the faculty of medicine of the Universite de Montreal and director of the Research Centre of the Montreal Heart Institute.
In 2004 Tardif was named the first Pfizer chair in atherosclerosis at the university.
Leading a team of more than 40 clinicians, Tardif has conducted extensive research related to different therapeutic strategies to stabilise or reverse atherosclerosis.
His research efforts have led to the introduction of new pharmacological approaches and to the development of new technologies targeting cardiovascular disease.
"We welcome the unparalleled clinical and research experience that doctors Brewer, Kastelein and Tardif bring to the new Cerenis Scientific Advisory Board.
"Together they represent a major new information resource for Cerenis that will play an important role in both our development program and our plans related to product commercialization as well as licensing and partnership opportunities," said Jean-Louis Dasseux, CEO and president of Cerenis.
In addition to the formation of the new Cerenis Scientific Advisory Board, the company also announced that Mark Skaletsky, chairman, CEO and president of Trine Pharmaceuticals, a developer of therapies for renal, gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases, has joined the Cerenis board of directors.
Previously, Skaletsky served as president and CEO of GelTex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Genzyme in December 2000), chairman and CEO of Enzytech, and president and chief operating officer of Biogen.
"Mark Skaletsky is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of biotechnology experience.
"He makes an excellent addition to our board of directors, and we welcome his broad industry expertise and guidance as we continue to position Cerenis as the leader in HDL product development and commercialisation," said Andre Mueller, chairman of the Cerenis board of directors.
