BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cardurion), a Boston-based, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing next-generation therapeutics for the treatment of heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, today announced the appointment of Howard K. Surks, M.D., as chief scientific officer and head, translational medicine. Dr. Surks joins Cardurion from Sanofi where he most recently served as head, translational medicine and clinical pharmacology U.S.
"We are very gratified that Howard has decided to join the Cardurion team at a time when our early-stage pipeline is moving rapidly toward the clinic,” said Peter Lawrence, chief executive officer of Cardurion. “Howard’s decades-long leadership encompassing cardiovascular drug discovery and development at Sanofi and Merck, and his basic cardiovascular research experience at Tufts Medical Center and School of Medicine, add to our already strong scientific team and ensure that we will have the expertise and experience needed to guide our early-stage programs into innovative human clinical trials.”
As head of translational medicine and clinical pharmacology U.S. at Sanofi, Dr. Surks recruited and led a team focused on research and early clinical development of molecules across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to Sanofi, Dr. Surks worked in both translational medicine and cardiovascular clinical development at Merck. Dr. Surks has led or overseen translational medicine and clinical pharmacology in multiple preclinical and clinical programs for cardiovascular diseases, rare diseases, hematology and immunology. Before joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Surks was an associate professor of medicine at the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute of Tufts Medical Center and School of Medicine, where he led an NIH-funded laboratory focused on cardiovascular signal transduction pathways and served on the cardiology division clinical faculty. Dr. Surks trained in cardiology and internal medicine at Tufts Medical Center.
"Cardurion is emerging as a leader in cardiovascular drug discovery and development, and I am excited to join the company to help move its novel portfolio of preclinical drug candidates into clinical trials,” said Dr. Surks. “Cardurion has the opportunity to change and improve the treatment paradigm in heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, and I am thrilled to partner with such an experienced leadership team to bring transformative new medicines to patients in areas of great unmet need."
About Cardurion Pharmaceuticals
Cardurion Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel, next-generation therapeutics for the treatment of heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. Built by a team of physician-scientists and industry experts with extensive experience in cardiovascular science, medicine and drug development, Cardurion Pharmaceuticals is pursuing unique drug discovery and development programs to target major unmet needs in cardiology. Cardurion Pharmaceuticals has facilities in Boston, Massachusetts and Shonan, Japan. For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://www.cardurion.com.
