CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rodin Therapeutics today announced the appointments of three senior executives with extensive experience in clinical and business development as well as a senior scientific advisor to focus on pipeline strategy. With their strong backgrounds in neuroscience, the new executives will accelerate Rodin’s progress in developing novel therapeutics to strengthen synaptic resilience in patients with a wide array of neurological disorders.
J. Michael Ryan, M.D., who has led clinical neuroscience research efforts at companies including Novartis and Pfizer, joins Rodin as chief medical officer. Anne M. Sullivan, MBA, who led biopharma business development and corporate strategy at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, joins as chief business officer. Steven P. Sweeney, who has more than 20 years of experience at companies including Pfizer, Vertex and Annovation, will serve as vice president, clinical development operations. And David Bleakman, Ph.D., a longtime leader of Eli Lilly’s neuroscience research programs, will join Rodin’s scientific advisory board and take an active role in helping to define Rodin’s pipeline strategy.
“The deep industry experience that Michael, Anne, Steve and David bring to Rodin will serve us well as we advance our compounds to the clinic,” said Adam Rosenberg, president and CEO of Rodin Therapeutics. “Their expertise and insights will be invaluable as we develop innovative treatments to boost synaptic resilience and improve deficits such as learning, memory and function in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders.”
Executive Leadership
J. Michael Ryan, M.D. comes to Rodin from Asceneuron SA, where he served as chief medical officer with full responsibility for clinical development strategy and execution. Before Asceneuron, Ryan spent more than four years at Novartis Pharmaceuticals as vice president and neurodegeneration therapeutic area head. He was responsible for clinical development strategy and technical oversight of programs in multiple indications, including Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, movement disorders, inherited neurodevelopmental disorders and rare diseases. Prior to joining Novartis, Ryan held neuroscience clinical research positions focused on developing therapies for Alzheimer’s disease at Pfizer, Wyeth Research and Merck Research Laboratories. Ryan has co-authored numerous journal articles, book chapters and scholarly reviews. He holds an M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina and a B.S. from Georgetown University.
Anne M. Sullivan, MBA was most recently with Sea Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biotech focused on neurological diseases, where she served as senior vice president, corporate development and operations. Sullivan started her career at Abbott Laboratories (now AbbVie) in a product management role. She then joined Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Sepracor), moving through positions of increasing responsibility into the role of vice president for corporate development and licensing. Sullivan played an instrumental role in the company’s 2009 acquisition by Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., for $2.6 billion. She also led numerous M&A, out-licensing, in-licensing and co-promotion deals and guided Sunovion’s substantial growth through the acquisitions of Elevation Pharmaceuticals and Oryx Pharmaceuticals. Sullivan holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and an A.B. from the College of the Holy Cross.
Steven P. Sweeney has been involved in clinical research for more than 20 years, from first-in-human Phase 1 trials through Phase 3b global registration studies. In addition to designing, running, analyzing and publishing clinical trials, he has led numerous clinical technology and process improvement initiatives. Sweeney held leadership positions at Pfizer and Infinity Pharmaceuticals before making the move to startups. Over the last few years, he has helped build Arteaus Therapeutics, which was acquired by Eli Lilly & Co., Annovation Biopharma, which was acquired by The Medicines Company, and Quartet Medicine. Sweeney holds a B.S. in toxicology from Northeastern University.
Scientific Advisory Board
David Bleakman, Ph.D., will join Rodin’s scientific advisory board and serve as senior scientific advisor, taking an active role in helping to define the company’s pipeline strategy. Bleakman has served in multiple leadership roles in his 25-year career at Eli Lilly & Co. As Lilly’s chief scientific officer for pain/migraine and psychiatric disorders drug discovery, he was responsible for delivering molecules from target identification to clinical proof of concept, including 10 that are currently in clinical trials. Bleakman received his doctorate from King’s College London, University of London and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Chicago. Rodin will draw on his deep insights into neuroscience drug discovery and development as the company builds a broad pipeline.
In addition, Hans Moebius, M.D., Ph.D., ECPM, who has been serving as Rodin’s acting chief medical officer, will continue to serve on the company’s scientific advisory board. Moebius has extensive global experience in neuroscience R&D he has led clinical programs resulting in five marketed CNS drugs, including Namenda™ (memantine). “Hans has been instrumental in helping to define our clinical strategy, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with him as we move towards the clinic,” said CEO Rosenberg.
About Rodin Therapeutics
Rodin Therapeutics is discovering
and developing first-in-class therapeutics for neurological disorders,
applying unique insights into the role of epigenetics and novel chemical
strategies to target specific HDAC complexes. Rodin’s unique
translational strategy, along with a targeted approach to synaptic
resilience, has potential across multiple phenotypically diverse
diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease,
frontotemporal dementia and traumatic brain injury – which all share the
common root cause of impaired neuronal and synaptic function. Investors
include Atlas Venture, Google Ventures (GV), Hatteras Venture Partners,
Remeditex Ventures and Third Point Ventures. For more information, visit https://rodintherapeutics.com/
and follow Rodin on Twitter @Rodintx.
