Cerenis Therapeutics announces new Board members
Toulouse, FRANCE, Ann Arbor, UNITED STATES, June 9, 2015 – Cerenis Therapeutics (FR0012616852- CEREN), an
international biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative HDL therapies
(“good cholesterol”) for treating cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, today announced the completion of its Board
of Directors. At the last Board Meeting, Catherine Moukheibir and Dr. Laura A. Coruzzi were appointed to the Board of
Directors replacing Healthcap’s representative, Johan Christenson, and Olivier Martinez, Bpifrance’s representative who
becomes a Board Observer.
Following these changes, the Board of Directors will consist of Richard Pasternak, Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Jean-Louis Dasseux, CEO, Denis Lucquin, representative of Sofinnova, Michael H. Davidson, Marc Rivière, representative
of TVM, Christian Chavy, Olivier Martinez, Board observer, along with Catherine Moukheibir and Laura Coruzzi. Most
importantly, all Board members hold strong expertise within the field of healthcare and have extensive operating
experience.
Dr. Richard Pasternak, Chairman of the Board of Cerenis comments: “We are very pleased to welcome Catherine
Moukheibir and Laura Coruzzi to our Board. They are very well known in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical
communities, in Europe as well as in the United States. They bring extensive experience in our sector from the healthcare
industry, financial, and legal perspectives. They will strengthen the Company’s ability to supervise the strategy, which is
crucial within the framework of our future clinical studies. We anticipate that these studies will start in the second half
of this year, with the first patient enrolments in the phase II study for the post-ACS indication (CARAT) and in the phase
III study for the treatment of patients affected by Familial Primary Hypoalphalipoproteinemia (FPHA) orphan disease.
The completion of Cerenis’ Board of Directors fulfills our commitment made in the filing for our recent successful IPO and
constitutes an important step in preparing the way for the next milestones before a potential Market Authorization
Application (AMM) for our flagship product, CER-001”.
• New Independent Directors
Catherine Moukheibir, MA, MBA (from Yale University), has 20 years of experience in finance including 15 in the
biotechnology industry, holding multiple leadership roles and Board roles. At Innate Pharma, where she is a member of
the Executive Board, she was responsible for a major financial restructuring. Prior to joining Innate, Mrs Moukheibir
was CFO of Movetis, a Belgian biotech company (from 2008 to 2010), for which she led the IPO on Euronext Brussels
and then the acquisition by Shire. Previously, she was Director Capital Markets at Zeltia (from 2001 to 2007), a Spanish
biopharma and consumer chemicals group, where she steered its financial strategy. Before joining Zeltia, she was a
management consultant and then worked as an Executive Director for two major Investment Banks: Salomon Smith
Barney and Morgan Stanley.
Dr. Laura Coruzzi Ph.D. is a member of the Intellectual Property practice at Jones Day, an international law firm. She has
represented clients in biotechnology and pharmaceutical for 30 years, participating in numerous landmark cases. Laura’s
practice encompasses patent prosecution, litigation and appeals before the USPTO Board of Appeals, the Federal Circuit,
and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to joining Jones Day, she practiced at Pennie & Edmonds LLP and was one of the first
members of the firm’s biotechnology group department founded by S. Leslie Misrock, affectionately known as the
“father of biotechnology patent law”. Her practice involves all aspects of patent law as it relates to a variety of disciplines
in life sciences, including genetic engineering, molecular biology, virology, vaccines, immunology, therapeutic
antibodies, biologic and small molecule therapeutics, diagnostics, drug discovery, and drug delivery. She is also well
versed in the field of HDL and cardiovascular disease as she has been deeply involved in developing patent strategies
related to HDL mimetics and Reverse Lipid Transport (RLT) modulating drugs. Dr. Coruzzi earned her Ph.D. in Biology at
Fordham University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine before entering
the practice of law.
Next financial press release: Cash position and revenue for H1 2015, on August 27, 2015.
About Cerenis Therapeutics: www.cerenis.com
Cerenis Therapeuticsis an international biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative HDL therapiesfor the
treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. HDL is the primary mediator of the reverse lipid transport, or RLT, the only natural pathway by
which excess cholesterol is removed from arteries and is transported to the liver for elimination from the body.
Cerenis is developing a portfolio of HDL therapies, including HDL mimetics for the rapid regression of atherosclerotic plaque in high-risk patients such
as post-ACS patients and patients with HDL deficiency, and drugs which increase HDL for patients with low number of HDL particles to treat
atherosclerosis and associated metabolic diseases.
Cerenis is well-positioned to become one of the leaders in the HDL therapeutic market, with a broad portfolio of programs being developed.
Since its inception in 2005, the company has been funded by top tier investors: Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners, EDF Ventures, Daiwa
Corporate Investment, TVM Capital, Orbimed, IRDI/IXO Private Equity and Bpifrance (Fund for Strategic Investment) and last March successfully
completed an IPO on Euronext raising €53.4m.
About CER-001:
CER-001 is an engineered complex of recombinant human apoA-I, the major structural protein of HDL, and phospholipids. It has been designed to
mimic the structure and function of natural, nascent HDL, also known as pre-beta HDL. Its mechanism of action is to increase apoA-I and the number
of HDL particles transiently, to stimulate the removal of excess cholesterol and other lipids from tissues including the arterial wall and to transport
them to the liver for elimination through a process called Reverse Lipid Transport
Contacts:
Cerenis
Jean-Louis Dasseux
CEO
info@cerenis.com
Tel: +33 (0)5 62 24 09 49
NewCap
Investors relations
Emmanuel Huynh / Louis-Victor Delouvrier
cerenis@newcap.fr
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 98 53
NewCap
Media relations
Nicolas Merigeau
cerenis@newcap.fr
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98
Source: Cerenis
