CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eleven Biotherapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on engineering and developing innovative protein-based therapeutics, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Abbie Celniker, Ph.D., as chief executive officer. Most recently, Dr. Celniker served as president and chief executive officer at Taligen Therapeutics, where she was instrumental in building the company to its acquisition by Alexion in January 2011.
“Eleven Biotherapeutics’ innovative approach offers an exciting opportunity to bring the next generation of protein therapeutics to patients,” said Dr. Celniker. “I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and working with the team as we move our lead program into development in 2012 and continue our efforts to translate clinical, biological and engineering insights into breakthrough products.”
Dr. Celniker brings more than 20 years of proven expertise in building late-stage protein therapeutic discovery and development programs and biologics-focused businesses to Eleven Biotherapeutics. Prior to leading Taligen, Dr. Celniker was global head of biologics at Novartis, where she oversaw the biologics division, forged strategic alliances and led internal discovery and development to build the pipeline. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Celniker spent more than six years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals as senior vice president, R&D strategy and operations and head of biotherapeutics and pharmaceutical sciences. Previously, she held senior research and development leadership roles with Wyeth BioPharma (Genetics Institute) and Genentech.
Eleven Biotherapeutics also announced the addition of biotechnology executive Chen Schor as chief business officer. Mr. Schor will replace interim chief business officer, Cary Pfeffer, M.D., who is a member of the Eleven Biotherapeutics board of directors and a partner at Third Rock Ventures.
Mr. Schor joins Eleven Biotherapeutics with extensive financial and business development experience that has generated more than $2 billion in deal value. He has led multiple licensing and M&A transactions with companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Bayer, OncoGeneX, Merck KGaA and Pfizer and helped raise significant venture capital funding. Most recently, Mr. Schor served as vice president, business development, global branded products at Teva Pharmaceuticals where he led the expansion of the company’s branded pipeline in multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Teva, Mr. Schor was chief business officer at EPIX Pharmaceuticals (previously Predix Pharmaceuticals) and served as a partner at Yozma Venture Capital.
“We are delighted to welcome Abbie and Chen to the Eleven Biotherapeutics team,” said Mark Levin, former interim CEO of Eleven Biotherapeutics, member of the board of directors and partner at Third Rock Ventures. “Eleven Biotherapeutics is taking a new and disruptive approach to engineering and developing next generation protein therapeutics for patients with serious unmet medical needs. Abbie’s scientific expertise and industry track record make her an ideal fit to lead the company as we advance our growing pipeline. We look forward to working with her and Chen to continue our progress.”
About Eleven Biotherapeutics
Eleven Biotherapeutics is focused on translating breakthrough discoveries from science and medicine by engineering and developing innovative protein-based therapeutics to improve human health and treat disease. Eleven Biotherapeutics’ scientists are engineering protein-based drugs using newly available structural information and the company’s unique molecular understanding of clinical effects to create the next generation of protein-based medicines to treat important diseases with unmet needs, such as ophthalmology disorders and muscle wasting conditions. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company was founded in 2010 by life science investors Flagship Ventures and Third Rock Ventures and world-renowned scientific experts. For more information, please visit www.elevenbio.com.