PITTSBURGH, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Noveome Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation biologics for the restoration of cellular integrity of damaged tissues, has appointed M. Michelle Berrey, M.D., M.P.H. and Annamaria T. Kausz, M.D., M.S. as members of the company’s Board of Directors.
“We are delighted to welcome Drs. Berrey and Kausz to our Board of Directors. Each brings a wealth of expertise in medical and regulatory strategy, drug development, commercialization and corporate financing,” said William Golden, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Noveome.
“Both Drs. Berrey and Kausz are joining Noveome at a crucial time as we continue our work to advance ST266 for the treatment of ophthalmology indications including persistent corneal epithelial defects, and systemic inflammation including the cytokine storm often seen in COVID-19.”
Dr. Berrey has over 25 years of combined industry and clinical experience. She is a seasoned industry executive with a proven track record in first-in-class therapeutics targeting viral diseases. Currently, Dr. Berrey serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for ViiV/GSK, and is on the Executive Committee and Board of the NC Biotechnology Center. Dr. Berrey was most recently president and CEO at Chimerix (NASDAQ: CMRX) and previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Pharmasset (acquired by Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ : GILD) and Vice President of Clinical Development for Antivirals and Metabolic Diseases at GlaxoSmithKline (LSE/NYSE: GSK). Throughout her career she has focused on diseases threatening the most immunocompromised patient populations. Dr. Berrey holds an M.P.H. from Emory University and an M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia.
“It’s exciting to join the Board of a company like Noveome, rooted in novel science that is unlocking the vast potential of a multi-targeted secretome such as ST266,” said Dr. Berrey. “I look forward to working together with the Noveome management team as we aim to improve clinical outcomes in a range of complex diseases.”
Dr. Kausz brings 14 years of experience in drug development and regulatory strategy across several disease areas and all phases of development, including post-marketing. She led the successful filing of two new drug approvals in the U.S. and E.U for renal and metabolic indications, and supported their commercial launch in the U.S. Dr. Kausz is currently the Chief Medical Officer of Allena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNA), where she was instrumental in securing agreement with the FDA on an accelerated approval strategy for a novel indication using a novel endpoint, led several clinical trials, and supported financing activities. Dr. Kausz also serves on the Board of Directors for the Kidney Health Initiative (KHI). She previously held various clinical development roles at EMD-Serono, Keryx, Reata, and AMAG. Dr. Kausz has an M.D. from the University of Virginia and an M.S. in Epidemiology with a concentration in Biostatistics from the University of Washington.
“It is an honor to join the Noveome Board and I look forward to working with leadership on regulatory strategy, evaluation of indication expansion and business development opportunities,” said Dr. Kausz. “ST266 has exciting potential to address the challenges of severe inflammatory responses that can occur in a wide range of indications, and I am eager to help advance Noveome’s programs.”
About ST266
ST266 is a cell-free biologic made by culturing a novel population of human amnion-derived cells. Through a proprietary culturing method, these cells produce an array of growth factors and cytokines, known as the secretome, which promote cellular survival and reduce inflammation.
About Noveome Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Based in Pittsburgh, Noveome Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation biologics for the promotion and restoration of cellular integrity of inflamed or damaged tissues. Noveome has launched a program to test its novel platform biologic, ST266, as a treatment for the severe inflammatory response seen in COVID-19 infection as well as the post-COVID-19 symptoms experienced by many COVID-19 patients. Noveome has completed a Phase 2 open-label clinical trial that demonstrated the benefit ST266 had in healing persistent corneal epithelial defects (PEDs). ST266 is also being evaluated in a Phase 1 open label clinical trial to establish the safety of ST266 in intranasal transcribriform delivery from nose to brain and eye. Noveome is currently planning follow-up clinical studies to characterize the efficacy and safety of ST266 further for the treatment of PEDs and a Phase 1 study evaluating the safety of intravenously administered ST266 in COVID-19 patients. For more information, visit www.noveome.com.
