MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Promethera Biosciences SA, a global innovator in cell-based medicines, today announced the following changes to its Board of Directors. Mr Charles L. Dimmler, III, a highly experienced international life sciences entrepreneur, venture capitalist and business operating executive, currently being Vice Chairman of Torreya Partners, LLC (a boutique investment banking firm based in NY, USA) has been elected as the new Chairman of the Board and will take over from Prof Dr Christof Hettich with immediate effect. Prof Dr Christof Hettich will keep a seat as Director. Furthermore, Dr Masaki Doi, PhD, ex-Astellas Pharma (HQ, Japan) top executive with extensive pharma and business development, licensing, M&A experience and Dr Reiko Namikawa, MD, PhD, an independent consultant with more than 30 years of experience in the medical and life sciences sectors including regenerative medicine and cell therapies bringing a strong network in US and Japan joined the Board. Current board members Philippe Degive, Jean-Paul Prieels and Ilka Wicke have stepped down.
“We welcome Charles, Masaki and Reiko as highly accomplished pharma and life sciences industry leaders, who will help us expand our corporate, deal-making and product development strategies,” said John Tchelingerian, President & CEO of Promethera. “We look forward to their contributions and guidance as we continue to advance the clinical development of our novel liver cell-based medicines and also position the company for success in the global markets with a special focus on the Asian market of cell therapies. I also look forward to working closely with Charles and I am pleased to have attracted a Chairman with such strong entrepreneurial and international experience. In addition, I would like to thank Prof Dr Christof Hettich for his tenure as Chairman and for his continuing support as Director. And finally I would like to thank all the departing board representatives for their longstanding contribution to Promethera and wish them all the best for the future.”
Charles L. Dimmler, III is a highly experienced international life sciences entrepreneur, venture capitalist and business operating executive, currently being Vice Chairman of Torreya Partners, LLC, a boutique investment banking firm specialized exclusively in the business of life sciences and based in New York, USA. Chuck has an outstanding track record of building successful biotech companies having served on more than 20 boards of directors over the last 30 years. His long experience as a Chairman | CEO | COO encompasses companies including Ceramedix Holding, LLC, Ore Pharmaceuticals, Nobex Corporation, and Applied Immune Sciences, the majority of which were successfully acquired. Chuck also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lundbeck, Inc.; as well as Chief Investment Officer of H. Lundbeck A/S. In addition to his entrepreneurial career, Chuck was also General Partner at Hambro International Equity Partners and Cross Atlantic Partners, two U.S. venture capital units of the London based merchant banking firm, Hambros plc. He received an undergraduate degree at the University of California at Davis and engaged in post graduate education at Harvard Business School, Columbia University School of Business and The Wharton School. Chuck is a former infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Masaki Doi, Ph.D., brings to Promethera an in-depth experience acquired from the pharma industry and encompassing the areas of drug discovery and development, business development, licensing and M&A. Along with this outstanding experience he brings a broad network in the venture capital and biotechnology sectors in Japan, Asia and USA. He served as the President of Illumina Japan, where he has achieved 50% growth of next generation sequencing (NGS) sales in the Japanese market. Additionally, he spent 11 years at Astellas Pharma as Corporate Executive, Head of Global Business Development. During this time, he founded Astellas Venture Management, the venture capital arm of Astellas Pharma and was involved in several licensing agreements as well as acquisitions, including Medivation, OSI and so on. Masaki holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics from University of Tokyo and a B.S. degree from the School of Science, Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of Tokyo.
Reiko Namikawa, M.D., Ph.D., brings to Promethera over 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Reiko has extensive experience and knowledge in broad aspects of drug discovery and development, especially in areas of hematology/oncology, immune disorders, and cell and gene therapies. She started her career in the US as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Irving Weissman’s lab at Stanford. She then joined SyStemix as a founding scientist, which went through IPO and acquisition by Novartis. After SyStemix, she has played various leadership roles in multiple companies in San Francisco Bay Area, including a business development consulting firm. Her vast experience in the Japanese biotechnology scene is evident from her senior management positions at Brightpath Biotherapeutics Co., Ltd., NapaJen, Inc., and REGiMMUNE, Inc. Reiko received her M.D. and Ph.D. in pathology from Nagoya University School of Medicine in Japan. She is the author of over 60 papers, and the inventor of multiple patents.
About Promethera Biosciences
Promethera is a global innovator in severe liver diseases and the leader in liver cell-based medicines therapeutics whose mission is to help enable patients to overcome acute and chronic liver diseases. Our lead clinical program, derived from our patented cell technology platform HepaStem, is designed to benefit from its immune-modulatory and anti-fibrotic properties.
We are a team of international experts operating out of R&D and GMP facilities in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, and Durham, NC, USA.
Promethera®, HepaStem®, H2stem®, Cytonet®, Heparesc® are all registered trademarks of the PROMETHERA group.
