Modus Therapeutics strengthens management team with appointment of Mats Blom, MBA as CFO
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – 11 March 2019: Modus Therapeutics AB, a company developing innovative treatments for patients with high unmet medical needs and a focus on sickle cell disease (SCD), announces the appointment of Mats Blom as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Mr Blom joins Modus Therapeutics on April 1 from dual-listed Zealand Pharma, where he was CFO from 2010. During his tenure, he oversaw the Company’s 2010 IPO on Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen, raising USD 50 million, a 2016 USD 22 million Directed issue and a 2017 listing on Nasdaq Global Markets in New York raising USD 90 million. Prior to that Mr Blom was CFO at Swedish Orphan International.
Ellen K. Donnelly, PhD, CEO of Modus Therapeutics, said: “I am thrilled to welcome Mats to our team. Mats is a seasoned CFO and his experience in both the US and EU capital markets will be an asset as we continue to build Modus. Mats joins at an exciting time for the Company, as we await the results of our global 140 patient Phase 2 study in mid-2019. This large clinical study compared intravenously administered sevuparin with placebo in patients admitted to the hospital with an acute VOC associated with sickle cell disease.”
Mr Blom added: “I am pleased to be joining Modus Therapeutics at this exciting time for the Company; and look forward to working with the excellent team, building on the successes already achieved, as we drive the Company forwards towards its strategic goals.”
SCD is an inherited blood disorder which is characterized by severely painful VOCs that lead to organ damage due to a lack of oxygen delivery to the organs. Progressive organ damage limits the life expectancy of patients with SCD and lifetime medical care costs can exceed $1 million per patient with an estimated $1 billion spent annually on the disease in the U.S. In the U.S alone SCD is believed to affect approximately 100,000 individuals.
FOR THE EDITORS
About Modus Therapeutics AB
Modus Therapeutics is a Swedish biotech company developing sevuparin for diseases with high unmet medical need with a focus on sickle cell disease (SCD). A large, Phase 2 clinical study evaluating the ability of intravenous (IV) sevuparin to shorten hospital stay and reduce pain in SCD has completed enrollment with data expected mid-2019. A Phase 1 study with subcutaneously-administered (SQ) sevuparin is currently ongoing. This new formulation of sevuparin has the potential to be self-administered by patients at home for the treatment of vaso-occlusive crisis.
The investors in Modus are KDev Investments AB, (part of Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) and Rosetta Capital), HealthCap, The Foundation for Baltic and European Studies (Östersjöstiftelsen) and Praktikerinvest AB. For more information, please visit www.modustx.com
About sevuparin
Sevuparin is an innovative, proprietary polysaccharide drug with anti-adhesive, anti-aggregate and anti-inflammatory effects due to its multimodal mechanism of action. Sevuparin has the potential to restore blood flow and prevent further microvascular obstructions in a number of diseases including SCD. In SCD, the anti-adhesive effects of sevuparin could thereby offer treatment of the underlying cause of vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) in SCD patients, with earlier pain relief, fewer and shorter hospitalizations, reduced need of opioids and improved quality of life. Two routes of administration of sevuparin are currently being tested – an IV formulation for hospital-based administration and a SQ formulation for patient self-administration in the home setting.
About sickle cell disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a painful, inherited blood disorder affecting millions of people around the globe and the most common inherited blood disorder in the U.S. affecting between 90,000-100,000 subjects, with medical care costs amounting to more than $1 billion. In Europe it is estimated that there are 35,000-40,000 SCD patients, with an even higher number in the Middle East and North Africa regions, with over 850,000 SCD patients. SCD patients’ blood cells form a sickled shape, which makes blood flow to vital organs difficult during acute intermittent episodes called vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), leading to severe pain and even premature death.
There is currently no pharmaceutical product available that targets the vaso-occlusive activity during a VOC in SCD patients. At present, the standard of care relies on strong intravenous pain medications and SCD patients often must be hospitalized to be treated.
For further information, please contact:
Ellen K Donnelly, CEO, Modus Therapeutics:
Tel: +46 70 246 7554
E-mail: ellen.donnelly@modustx.com
David Dible, Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel: +44 20 7638 9571
E-mail: david.dible@citigatedewerogerson.com
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – 11 March 2019: Modus Therapeutics AB, a company developing innovative treatments for patients with high unmet medical needs and a focus on sickle cell disease (SCD), announces the appointment of Mats Blom as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Mr Blom joins Modus Therapeutics on April 1 from dual-listed Zealand Pharma, where he was CFO from 2010. During his tenure, he oversaw the Company’s 2010 IPO on Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen, raising USD 50 million, a 2016 USD 22 million Directed issue and a 2017 listing on Nasdaq Global Markets in New York raising USD 90 million. Prior to that Mr Blom was CFO at Swedish Orphan International.
Ellen K. Donnelly, PhD, CEO of Modus Therapeutics, said: “I am thrilled to welcome Mats to our team. Mats is a seasoned CFO and his experience in both the US and EU capital markets will be an asset as we continue to build Modus. Mats joins at an exciting time for the Company, as we await the results of our global 140 patient Phase 2 study in mid-2019. This large clinical study compared intravenously administered sevuparin with placebo in patients admitted to the hospital with an acute VOC associated with sickle cell disease.”
Mr Blom added: “I am pleased to be joining Modus Therapeutics at this exciting time for the Company; and look forward to working with the excellent team, building on the successes already achieved, as we drive the Company forwards towards its strategic goals.”
SCD is an inherited blood disorder which is characterized by severely painful VOCs that lead to organ damage due to a lack of oxygen delivery to the organs. Progressive organ damage limits the life expectancy of patients with SCD and lifetime medical care costs can exceed $1 million per patient with an estimated $1 billion spent annually on the disease in the U.S. In the U.S alone SCD is believed to affect approximately 100,000 individuals.
FOR THE EDITORS
About Modus Therapeutics AB
Modus Therapeutics is a Swedish biotech company developing sevuparin for diseases with high unmet medical need with a focus on sickle cell disease (SCD). A large, Phase 2 clinical study evaluating the ability of intravenous (IV) sevuparin to shorten hospital stay and reduce pain in SCD has completed enrollment with data expected mid-2019. A Phase 1 study with subcutaneously-administered (SQ) sevuparin is currently ongoing. This new formulation of sevuparin has the potential to be self-administered by patients at home for the treatment of vaso-occlusive crisis.
The investors in Modus are KDev Investments AB, (part of Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) and Rosetta Capital), HealthCap, The Foundation for Baltic and European Studies (Östersjöstiftelsen) and Praktikerinvest AB. For more information, please visit www.modustx.com
About sevuparin
Sevuparin is an innovative, proprietary polysaccharide drug with anti-adhesive, anti-aggregate and anti-inflammatory effects due to its multimodal mechanism of action. Sevuparin has the potential to restore blood flow and prevent further microvascular obstructions in a number of diseases including SCD. In SCD, the anti-adhesive effects of sevuparin could thereby offer treatment of the underlying cause of vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) in SCD patients, with earlier pain relief, fewer and shorter hospitalizations, reduced need of opioids and improved quality of life. Two routes of administration of sevuparin are currently being tested – an IV formulation for hospital-based administration and a SQ formulation for patient self-administration in the home setting.
About sickle cell disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a painful, inherited blood disorder affecting millions of people around the globe and the most common inherited blood disorder in the U.S. affecting between 90,000-100,000 subjects, with medical care costs amounting to more than $1 billion. In Europe it is estimated that there are 35,000-40,000 SCD patients, with an even higher number in the Middle East and North Africa regions, with over 850,000 SCD patients. SCD patients’ blood cells form a sickled shape, which makes blood flow to vital organs difficult during acute intermittent episodes called vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), leading to severe pain and even premature death.
There is currently no pharmaceutical product available that targets the vaso-occlusive activity during a VOC in SCD patients. At present, the standard of care relies on strong intravenous pain medications and SCD patients often must be hospitalized to be treated.
For further information, please contact:
Ellen K Donnelly, CEO, Modus Therapeutics:
Tel: +46 70 246 7554
E-mail: ellen.donnelly@modustx.com
David Dible, Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel: +44 20 7638 9571
E-mail: david.dible@citigatedewerogerson.com
Source: Modus Therapeutics
