SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Escient Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage, industry-leading platform company developing Mas-related G Protein-Coupled Receptor (MRGPR)-targeted drugs to address serious, unserved medical needs across a broad range of therapeutic indications, today announced that Christian Weyer, M.D., M.A.S., has joined the company as President and Chief Medical Officer.
“Christian is a proven business leader with a long track record of success in leading research and development organizations and we are pleased to welcome him to the Escient team,” said Alain Baron, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Escient. “His insights and experience will be instrumental as we continue to build our pipeline and advance our lead product candidates, targeted inhibitors of MrgprX4 and MrgprX2, into and through clinical development.”
“Escient’s platform holds tremendous promise and I’m excited to join the company at this pivotal time of pipeline expansion and program advancement,” said Dr. Weyer. “Escient has an unmatched knowledge of the biology of Mrgprs and a unique set of capabilities to develop novel therapies targeting these receptors. This has enabled the company to identify a set of promising drug candidates with the potential to address an expansive number of debilitating diseases in need of novel treatments. I look forward to working with the team to advance both current and future pipeline candidates through the various phases of clinical development in the coming years.”
Dr. Weyer has held executive leadership positions in several private and publicly traded companies, where he contributed to the development, approval, and/or lifecycle management of several first-in-class medicines for diabetes (Byetta®, Bydureon®, Symlin®), lipodystrophy (Myalept®), and primary biliary cholangitis (Ocaliva®). Before joining Escient, he served as Executive Vice President of R&D at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, President and Chief Development Officer at ProSciento, and as President and Chief Executive Officer of Fate Therapeutics. Previously, he held roles of increasing responsibilities at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Senior Vice President of R&D, until the acquisition of the company by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Weyer received his M.D. and clinical training at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany, holds a master’s degree in advanced clinical research from the University of California, San Diego, and conducted postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health.
About Escient Pharmaceuticals
Escient Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage, industry-leading platform biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing first-in-class Mas-Related G Protein-Coupled Receptor (MRGPR)-targeted drugs to address serious, unserved medical needs across a broad range of therapeutic indications. Based in San Diego, Calif., Escient is led by an experienced team of biotechnology entrepreneurs with specific expertise in GPCR drug discovery and development and funded by top-tier life science investors, including The Column Group, 5AM Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, Cowen Healthcare Investors, Redmile Group, Perceptive Advisors, Osage University Partners and Altitude Life Science Ventures.
Visit www.escientpharma.com to learn more.
