CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Areteia Therapeutics announces two key leadership appointments: Dr. Eric Bradford M.D. as Chief Medical Officer and Robin Walker J.D. as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. These appointments report to Jorge Bartolome, CEO of Areteia Therapeutics and are effective immediately.
Eric joins Areteia after a 20+ year career in biopharma, working on early-stage research, clinical development, medical affairs, life cycle management and commercialization. He has extensive experience in asthma, respiratory diseases, as well as other therapeutic areas, spanning 18 years at GSK. During this time, he oversaw numerous global studies, and provided medical affairs and development leadership for the anti-IL5 mAB programs targeting severe asthma. Eric joins the executive leadership team with responsibility for overseeing all medical functions within the company.
Robin joins Areteia with 20+ years of legal experience across a variety of disciplines, including compliance, corporate governance, regulatory, risk management, M&A, alliance management and intellectual property for public and private companies. Most recently, she was the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary at Goldfinch Bio and Stoke Therapeutics. Prior to this, Robin worked for 8 years at Biogen where she was Research and Development Counsel as well as Associate General Counsel. She joins the executive leadership team, responsible for all legal and compliance matters for the company.
“I am thrilled to expand and further strengthen our team with these two important leadership appointments,” said Jorge Bartolome, CEO of Areteia Therapeutics. He added “they both bring years of highly relevant experience and will play an essential role in fulfilling our mission to put asthma patients in better control of their disease and lives.”
About Areteia Therapeutics
Areteia Therapeutics (areteiatx.com) is a clinical stage biotechnology company committed to putting asthma patients in better control of their disease and lives by developing the first potential oral drug for eosinophilic asthma. Areteia’s lead drug candidate is dexpramipexole, a first-in-class oral eosinophil maturation inhibitor. Areteia was created by Population Health Partners and Knopp Biosciences. A syndicate of leading life sciences and strategic investors led by Bain Capital Life Sciences with participation from Access Biotechnology, GV, ARCH Venture Partners, Saturn Partners, Sanofi, Maverick Capital, and Population Health Partners, has committed to invest up to $350 million in Series A financing to establish Areteia and advance dexpramipexole through Phase 3 clinical trials, secure commercial supply, and pursue potential next-generation medicines. Areteia will conduct late-stage development including Phase 3 clinical trials of dexpramipexole in partnership with Population Health Partners’ development unit, Validae Health.
About Dexpramipexole
Dexpramipexole is an oral small molecule in phase 3 development for eosinophilic asthma. Dexpramipexole inhibits the maturation and release of eosinophils in bone marrow, based on evidence from cell cultures and human biopsies, thereby lowering peripheral blood eosinophil levels. Most recently in a Phase 2 study in patients with moderate-to-severe eosinophilic asthma, treatment with dexpramipexole resulted in a significant, dose-dependent reduction in blood absolute eosinophil count at all doses tested (daily dexpramipexole doses of 37.5 mg, 75 mg, or 150 mg twice daily) compared to placebo. Dexpramipexole was well tolerated in the trial, with adverse events balanced across treatment and placebo groups, no serious adverse events, and no adverse events leading to discontinuation.
About Eosinophilic Asthma
Asthma disrupts the lives of more than a quarter of a billion people worldwide. More than half of asthma patients have eosinophilic asthma, which is driven by an oversupply of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, in blood and tissue. By inhibiting the maturation of eosinophils, oral dexpramipexole acts in a way similar to injectable anti-IL-5 biologic therapies. The asthma biologic market is experiencing growth of 10% per year and is valued at around $8 billion, with IL-5 biologic therapies representing approximately $3 billion of that figure. If approved as a first-to-market oral, dexpramipexole could provide a compelling alternative to injectable biologics, and could potentially be used earlier in the asthma treatment paradigm to prevent progression of disease.
