Axcella Announces Alison D. Schecter, M.D., as President of R&D
March 03 2021 - 4:20PM
Business Wire
Experienced biopharma leader to oversee
research, candidate development, clinical and regulatory
functions
Axcella (Nasdaq:AXLA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company
pioneering a new approach to treat complex diseases and improve
health using endogenous metabolic modulator (EMM) compositions,
today announced the appointment of Alison D. Schecter, M.D., as the
company’s President of Research and Development. In this role, Dr.
Schecter will oversee all of the company’s research, product
candidate design, clinical and regulatory efforts. Additionally,
Manu Chakravarthy, M.D., Ph.D., has decided to step down as the
company’s Chief Medical Officer to pursue another opportunity.
“We are excited to welcome Alison to Axcella and view her unique
skillsets as a great match for our innovative, efficient and highly
informative development model. Her impressive experience across the
drug development lifecycle will be valuable as we enter late-stage
development with our lead candidates and execute our pipeline
expansion plans,” said Bill Hinshaw, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Axcella. “On behalf of Axcella’s employees and board, I
would like to extend our appreciation to Manu for his collaboration
and many contributions over the past few years, culminating in the
finalization of our AXA1125 IND submission and clearance of our
AXA1665 IND. We wish him the very best in his new venture.”
Dr. Schecter brings more than 20 years of R&D, clinical and
regulatory experience to Axcella. Previously, she served as Chief
Medical Officer at Selecta Biosciences, Inc. and Global Project
Head, Rare Diseases at Sanofi-Genzyme. Prior to this, Dr. Schecter
was Global Program Head at Baxalta, where she was instrumental in
obtaining multinational approvals for Adynovate and advancing the
company’s other hemophilia candidates. Earlier, she held roles of
increasing responsibility in translational medicine, cardiovascular
and metabolism product innovation at the Northeast J&J
Innovation Center and the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical
Research (NIBR). Dr. Schecter started her career in academia as
Associate Professor in Immunology and Medicine and co-founder and
co-director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Icahn
School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is a boarded cardiologist
and internist who completed an Internal Medicine residency at The
Johns Hopkins Hospital, a Cardiology fellowship at Massachusetts
General Hospital and a Research Fellowship at Mount Sinai School of
Medicine. Dr. Schecter earned her medical degree from SUNY
Downstate Health Sciences University.
“With strong clinical data, recent regulatory milestones and a
plethora of R&D opportunities afforded by its unique platform,
I could not be more excited to take on this role at Axcella,” said
Dr. Schecter. “I am looking forward to working with the team as we
strive to improve the lives of patients with complex diseases
utilizing novel EMM compositions.”
Dr. Chakravarthy said, “My time at Axcella has been extremely
gratifying as we were able to pioneer a new class of multi-targeted
therapeutic candidates, demonstrate their potential, replicate our
findings in multiple clinical studies, and advance two liver
disease candidates into Phase 2/2b trials within four years of
their design. It has been a privilege to be a part of this
organization, and I am looking forward to helping ensure a smooth
transition as Axcella enters its next exciting phase of
development.”
Internet Posting of Information Axcella uses its website,
www.axcellahealth.com, as a means of disclosing material nonpublic
information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under
Regulation FD. Such disclosures will be included on the company’s
website in the “Investors and News” section. Accordingly, investors
should monitor this portion of the company’s website, in addition
to following its press releases, SEC filings and public conference
calls and webcasts.
About Axcella Axcella is a clinical-stage biotechnology
company pioneering a new approach to treat complex diseases and
improve health using endogenous metabolic modulator (EMM)
compositions. The company’s product candidates are comprised of
EMMs and their derivatives that are engineered in distinct
combinations and ratios to simultaneously impact multiple
biological pathways. Axcella’s pipeline includes lead therapeutic
candidates for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and the
reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) recurrence.
For more information, please visit www.axcellahealth.com.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including,
without limitation, statements regarding the company’s ability to
progress into late-stage development with its lead candidates and
execute its pipeline expansion plans. The words “may,” “will,”
“could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,”
“intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,”
“continue,” “target” and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements, although not all
forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any
forward-looking statements in this press release are based on
management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a
number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause
actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed
or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this
press release, including, without limitation, those related to the
potential impact of COVID-19 on the company’s ability to conduct
and complete its ongoing or planned clinical studies and clinical
trials in a timely manner or at all due to patient or principal
investigator recruitment or availability challenges, clinical trial
site shutdowns or other interruptions and potential limitations on
the quality, completeness and interpretability of data the company
is able to collect in its planned clinical trials of AXA1665 and
AXA1125, other potential impacts of COVID-19 on the company’s
business and financial results, including with respect to its
ability to raise additional capital and operational disruptions or
delays, changes in law, regulations, or interpretations and
enforcement of regulatory guidance, whether data readouts support
the company’s clinical trial initiation plans and timing, clinical
trial design and target indications for AXA1665 and AXA1125, the
clinical development and safety profile of AXA1665 and AXA1125 and
their therapeutic potential, whether and when, if at all, the
company’s product candidates will receive approval from the FDA or
other comparable regulatory authorities, potential competition from
other biopharma companies in the company’s target indications, and
other risks identified in the company’s SEC filings, including
Axcella’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
and subsequent filings with the SEC. The company cautions you not
to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date they are made. Axcella disclaims any
obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to
reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that
may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from
those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release
represent the company’s views only as of the date hereof and should
not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent
date. The company explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements.
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Company Jason Fredette jfredette@axcellahealth.com (857)
320-2236
Axcella Health (NASDAQ:AXLA)
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