7 May
2024
PureTech Health plc
PureTech Founded Entity
Seaport Therapeutics Adds Industry Veteran to Board of Directors
and Makes Key Executive Appointments
Denice Torres, J.D., former
Board Member of Karuna Therapeutics and accomplished healthcare
executive at Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Neuroscience and Eli
Lilly, appointed to Seaport Board of Directors
Eric Green, MBA, former
development and commercialization leader at Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals, joins Seaport as Chief Operating
Officer
Michael Chen, Ph.D.,
Co-Founder of Seaport and former Head of Innovation at PureTech
Health named Seaport Chief Scientific Officer
PureTech Health plc
(Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the
"Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, noted that
its Founded Entity, Seaport
Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical
company that is charting a proven path in neuropsychiatry, today
announced the appointment of Denice Torres,
J.D., to its Board of Directors. In addition, Michael Chen, Ph.D., Co-founder, was named Chief Scientific
Officer, and Eric Green, MBA, was appointed
Chief Operating Officer.
The appointments follow the
recent launch of Seaport, PureTech's
newest Founded Entity, with a $100 million
Series A financing round. Consistent with its model, PureTech
internally advanced Seaport's neuropsychiatric medicines programs
to a key inflection point, and the pipeline - which is now being
advanced by Seaport - can drive value for PureTech through an
equity stake and license consideration. This enables PureTech to
share the significant costs of later-stage development with outside
investors and direct additional resources to its innovative R&D
engine for the creation and validation of new therapeutic
candidates. Following the Series A financing, PureTech holds equity
ownership in Seaport of 61.5 percent on a diluted
basis.
The full text of the announcement
from Seaport is as follows:
Seaport Therapeutics Adds
Industry Veteran to Board of Directors and Makes Key Executive
Appointments
Denice Torres, J.D., former
Board Member of Karuna Therapeutics and accomplished healthcare
executive at Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Neuroscience and Eli
Lilly, appointed to Seaport Board of Directors
Eric Green, MBA, former
development and commercialization leader at Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals, joins as Chief Operating Officer
Michael Chen, Ph.D.,
Co-Founder of Seaport and former Head of Innovation at PureTech
Health named Chief Scientific Officer
BOSTON, May 7, 2024 - Seaport
Therapeutics, a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company that is charting a proven path in
neuropsychiatry, today announced the appointment of Denice Torres,
J.D., to its Board of Directors. In addition, Michael Chen, Ph.D.,
Co-founder, was named Chief Scientific Officer, and Eric Green,
MBA, was appointed Chief Operating Officer. The appointments follow
the recent launch of Seaport with a $100 million Series A financing
round to advance the development of novel neuropsychiatric
medicines.
"We are incredibly honored to welcome
Denice to our Board of Directors. She is an exceptional healthcare
leader with a track record of successfully guiding organizations
through significant growth and transformation," said Steve Paul,
M.D., Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors at Seaport.
"Denice was a key contributor on the Karuna Board and I am
delighted to have the opportunity to work with her again as we
deliver on our mission to bring first and best-in-class medicines
to those who are suffering from depression, anxiety and other
neuropsychiatric disorders."
Ms. Torres brings notable public
and private board experience to Seaport, including a position on
the Board of Directors at Karuna Therapeutics until its acquisition
by Bristol Myers Squibb in March 2024. She has over 30 years
of P&L, strategy, and leadership experience in pharmaceuticals,
consumer healthcare and medical devices. Ms. Torres held
several leadership positions at Johnson & Johnson, including
President of J&J Consumer Healthcare, President
of Janssen Neuroscience, and Chief Strategy Officer for the
medical device division. Before joining Johnson & Johnson, she
held senior leadership roles at Eli Lilly, including Executive
Director of Global Neuroscience and Head of Women's Healthcare. Ms.
Torres has received numerous awards, including Healthcare
Businesswomen's Association Woman
of the Year, Johnson & Johnson Working Mother of the Year, and
the Johnson & Johnson Special
Recognition Leadership Award for her work in diversity and
inclusion.
"It's an honor to join Seaport's
Board of Directors and a team of world-class innovators with an
incredible track record of advancing the field of neuropsychiatry,"
said Ms. Torres. "The company's Glyph™ platform, fueled by
breakthrough science, has the exciting potential to enhance the
lives of millions of people living with neuropsychiatric
disorders."
Mr. Green steps into the role of
Chief Operating Officer bringing nearly 25 years of
biopharmaceutical development,
commercialization and operational experience. Most
recently, Mr. Green was Senior Vice President, Head of Development
Programs at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals where he led a team
responsible for global development and
pre-commercialization activities for a portfolio
of development stage programs. His initial role at Alnylam
was as Senior Vice President, Global General Manager for the TTR
Franchise, leading the first ever global approval of a RNAi
therapeutic, ONPATTRO® (patisiran)
and late-stage development of vutrisiran (now AMVUTTRA®). Mr.
Green's diverse experience spans across R&D process
engineering, pharmaceutical manufacturing and operations,
and global development and commercialization strategy with former roles at Synageva BioPharma, Infinity
Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme Corporation and Pfizer. He received an MBA
from MIT Sloan School of Management and a M.S. in chemical
engineering from MIT School of Engineering. He
earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from University of Michigan.
At Seaport, he will be responsible for implementing strategies to
support the growth and development of the company's pipeline across
the organization.
Dr. Chen is Co-founder and has now
been appointed Chief Scientific Officer of Seaport. In his most
recent role, Dr. Chen was the Head of Innovation at PureTech
Health, where he oversaw the rapid advancement of the
neuropsychiatric medicines that led to the launch of Seaport. These
novel medicines are now being advanced within Seaport's
clinical-stage pipeline powered by the Glyph platform, which
leverages the lymphatic system to create new medicines building on
clinically validated mechanisms. Dr. Chen was previously Co-founder
and Head of Research and Strategy at Sonde Health, a company
developing vocal biomarkers for depression and other
neuropsychiatric disorders. He was a
postdoctoral fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and
Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology. Dr. Chen completed
his Ph.D. at Stanford University, focusing on the neurobiological
mechanisms of risk for depression and sleep disorders. He received
a B.A. from Yale University.
"Denice exudes incredible passion and
exuberance for making a difference for patients, and we are
delighted to enrich our board with her energy and experience in
neuroscience, manufacturing, commercialization and organizational
growth and culture. I feel privileged to be able to work closely
with her as we build out our team and advance our pipeline
programs," said Daphne Zohar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
at Seaport. "I'm also excited to welcome
two key members to our executive team. I had the pleasure of
working with Michael as he played a critical role in the
development of our Glyph platform and pipeline and I look forward
to working closely with him in this expanded role.
Eric is an accomplished leader and he will help
propel Seaport forward as we rapidly execute on our growth strategy
and progress our pipeline of important new medicines for patients
in need."
About Seaport Therapeutics
Seaport Therapeutics is a
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing the development
of novel neuropsychiatric medicines in areas of high unmet patient
needs. The Company has a proven strategy of advancing clinically
validated mechanisms previously held back by limitations that are
overcome with its proprietary GlyphTM technology
platform. All the therapeutic candidates in its pipeline of first
and best-in-class medicines are based on the Glyph platform,
which is uniquely designed to enable oral
bioavailability, bypass first-pass metabolism and reduce
hepatotoxicity and other side effects. Seaport is led by an experienced team that was involved in
inventing and advancing KarXT and other neuropsychiatric medicines
and are guided by an extensive network of renowned scientists,
clinicians and key opinion leaders across neurological specialties.
For more information, please visit www.seaporttx.com.
About PureTech Health
PureTech is a clinical-stage
biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to new classes of
medicine to change the lives of patients with devastating diseases.
The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through its
experienced research and development team and its extensive network
of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders that is being
advanced both internally and through its Founded Entities.
PureTech's R&D engine has resulted in the development of 29
therapeutics and therapeutic candidates, including two that have
received both U.S. FDA clearance and European marketing
authorization and a third (KarXT) that has been filed for FDA
approval. A number of these programs are being advanced by PureTech
or its Founded Entities in various indications and stages of
clinical development, including registration enabling studies. All
of the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in this
pipeline of therapeutic candidates were initially identified or
discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key
validation points.
For more information,
visit www.puretechhealth.com or
connect with us on X (formerly Twitter) @puretechh.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains
statements that are or may be forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
All statements contained in this press release that do not relate
to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking
statements, including without limitation those related to Seaport's
development plans and our future prospects, developments and
strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual
results, performance and achievements to differ materially from
current expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks,
uncertainties and other important factors described under the
caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the
year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC and in our other
regulatory filings. These forward-looking statements are based on
assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of
the Company and the environment in which it will operate in the
future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date
of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory
requirements, we disclaim any obligation to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Contact:
PureTech
Public Relations
publicrelations@puretechhealth.com
Investor Relations
IR@puretechhealth.com
UK/EU Media
Ben Atwell, Rob Winder
+44 (0) 20 3727 1000
puretech@fticonsulting.com
US
Media
Nichole Bobbyn
+1 774 278 8273
nichole@tenbridgecommunications.com