CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & LAUSANNE, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anokion SA, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on treating autoimmune disease by restoring normal immune tolerance, today announced appointments to the company’s leadership team to support the continued advancement of its pipeline, including its clinical-stage programs, KAN-101 and ANK-700. Recent leadership appointments include:
- Alison Long, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed chief medical officer
- Glenn R. Booma has been appointed chief strategy officer
- Kristie M. Grebe, Ph.D., has been promoted to senior vice president, immunology & translational medicine from her former role as vice president, clinical & translational development
- Stephanie Ann Haller, has been appointed senior vice president, clinical operations
“I am thrilled to welcome Alison, Stephanie and Glenn to the Anokion team and congratulate Kristie on her well-deserved promotion leading all aspects of research, immunology, and translation,” said Deborah Geraghty, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Anokion. “As we prepare for initiation of Phase 2 development with KAN-101 for celiac disease and continue to progress ANK-700 for multiple sclerosis through Phase 1, the collective expertise of this team – across clinical development, research, commercialization and strategic planning – will be invaluable. I look forward to partnering with each of these talented individuals as we continue our efforts to develop potential durable and disease-modifying treatment options for people with challenging autoimmune diseases.”
Alison Long, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Long brings extensive industry and clinical experience to Anokion, with a proven track record developing therapies, which include five successful regulatory approvals over her career. She most recently served as chief medical officer of Kaleido BioSciences, and prior to that, as interim chief medical officer and senior vice president, head of clinical development at Freeline Therapeutics. Prior to her role at Freeline, she served as head of clinical research and development at Spark Therapeutics, where she oversaw the clinical development of all programs. Dr. Long has also previously served as vice president, clinical development, hemophilia at uniQure; vice president, head of clinical at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals; and medical director with Biogen, where she focused on the development and subsequent EU approval of Elocta®. Prior to her executive positions, Dr. Long was a physician scientist at AFG Biosolutions and The Institute for Ethnomedicine, after spending 12 years as a practicing physician. She received her medical degree from the University of Witwatersrand, and Ph.D. in biodefense from George Mason University.
Glenn R. Booma
Mr. Booma is a proven life sciences leader with a unique combination of capabilities in new product strategy, clinical & regulatory planning and scientific/commercial collaborations. He joins Anokion after nearly a decade serving in consulting roles for life sciences companies, focused on portfolio planning, new product commercialization and business development. Prior to that, he held a number of marketing and product planning roles within the life sciences industry including as senior director, strategic market development at Springleaf Therapeutics; marketing director at Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems; associate director, new product planning at Transform Pharmaceutical (acquired by Johnson & Johnson); marketing director at Control Delivery Systems; and as an associate director, medical marketing at Genzyme. Earlier, he was a business strategy consultant focused on the pharmaceutical and medical device industries at Charles River Associates, Pharmaceutical Practice, and was a medical service representative at Pfizer. Mr. Booma holds an M.S. in evaluative clinical sciences from Dartmouth College and a B.A. in biology from the University of Vermont.
Kristie M. Grebe, Ph.D.
Dr. Grebe has extensive scientific and clinical research experience with a particular focus on immunology and autoimmune disease. She has held roles in clinical & translational development at Anokion since 2019, most recently as vice president, clinical & translational development. Prior to Anokion, Dr. Grebe held roles of increasing responsibility at Abbott Laboratories/Abbvie, including positions in immunology clinical development and translation, immunology discovery, and biologics. She completed post-doctoral work in the laboratory of viral disease at the National Institutes for Health and was a predoctoral fellow at the National Jewish Medical Center in Denver. She received her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Colorado Health Science Center and B.S. in microbiology and cell science from the University of Florida.
Stephanie Ann Haller
Ms. Haller has twenty years of industry experience overseeing and executing large, global clinical trials. She joins Anokion from Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease Unit, where she was a leader in clinical operations, including most recently as senior director, clinical operations, therapeutic area lead, nephrology. She also served as vice president, clinical operations at Syntimmune, Inc., prior to its acquisition by Alexion. Prior to that, she was vice president, clinical operations at Dimension Therapeutics. Ms. Haller has also held multiple director and leadership roles at Shire plc, Halloran Consulting Group, Genzyme Corporation, Muro Pharmaceuticals and ICON Clinical Research, Inc. Ms. Haller has completed coursework toward an M.S. in experimental psychology at Villanova University and holds a B.A. from Denison University in Ohio.
As part of the company’s evolution to mid-clinical stage development, Stephan Kontos, Ph.D., will transition from his role as chief scientific officer to chair Anokion’s recently established scientific advisory board, which will be announced later this year.
About Anokion
Anokion SA is a clinical-stage Swiss biotechnology company that aims to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases by restoring normal immune tolerance. The company is focused on both prevalent and rare autoimmune diseases, including celiac disease, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. Anokion’s distinct approach leverages the company’s immune-based platform, which targets natural pathways in the liver to restore immune tolerance and address the underlying cause of autoimmune disease. For more information, please visit http://www.anokion.com/.
