ABLYNX APPOINTS DR ROBERT FRIESEN AS CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER
January 24 2018 - 1:01AM
GHENT, Belgium, 24 January 2018 -
Ablynx [Euronext Brussels and Nasdaq: ABLX] today announced
the appointment of Robert Friesen, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer
(CSO), effective 1 March 2018. Dr Friesen will lead the Company's
scientific, research and technology activities and become a member
of the Executive Committee. He succeeds Dr Antonin de Fougerolles,
Ablynx's previous CSO, who left the Company last year to become
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Evox Therapeutics.
Dr Friesen has more than 20 years of experience
in the biopharmaceutical industry, leading multiple Research and
Development (R&D) organisations. Dr Friesen joins Ablynx from
ProQR Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company, where
he is currently Senior Vice President, heading the Science and
Early Development division. Prior to joining ProQR Therapeutics, Dr
Friesen worked at Janssen BioTherapeutics, a Johnson & Johnson
Company as Global Head of Biologics Research, where he established
an efficient R&D organisation of more than 200 scientists and
professionals located in Europe and US; and at the Crucell Vaccine
Institute, a Johnson & Johnson Company, as Vice President
Preclinical and Clinical Research where he led the team responsible
for discovery, production and preclinical development of monoclonal
antibodies. Before Crucell Vaccine Institute, he was Head of
Preclinical & Early Clinical Development at MorphoSys.
Dr Friesen holds a PhD in biochemistry from the
University of Texas and performed postdoctoral research at the
University of Groningen.
Welcoming Dr Friesen to the team, Dr Edwin
Moses, CEO of Ablynx, said: "Robert brings an extensive track
record of successfully initiating and executing new drug discovery
programmes as well as building strong research organisations. We
are pleased to have him join our team and lead our company's
research activities at such an important and exciting time for
Ablynx. We will be able to leverage his critical expertise and
proven leadership capabilities as we expand our proprietary
Nanobody product pipeline and execute on our multiple strategic
collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies. We look forward
to welcoming Robert as we continue to advance our leading Nanobody
platform to deliver meaningful products to patients around the
world, and create substantial value for Ablynx's shareholders."
Commenting on his appointment, Dr Friesen
added:"I have long admired Ablynx and am excited to join the
Company at such an important time. With Ablynx's upside potential,
I look forward to meaningfully contributing to Ablynx's momentum
and advancing our leading Nanobody platform to help drive forward
the Company's strategy of becoming a fully integrated
biopharmaceutical company. With Ablynx's strong pipeline, platform
and technology, I am confident that our talented team will continue
to deliver novel products to patients that address unmet medical
needs where there are currently limited or no therapeutic
options."
About Ablynx
Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in
the development of Nanobodies, proprietary therapeutic proteins
based on single-domain antibody fragments, which combine the
advantages of conventional antibody drugs with some of the features
of small-molecule drugs. Ablynx is dedicated to creating new
medicines which will make a real difference to society. Today, the
Company has more than 45 proprietary and partnered programmes in
development in various therapeutic areas including inflammation,
haematology, immuno-oncology, oncology and respiratory disease. The
Company has collaborations with multiple pharmaceutical companies
including AbbVie; Boehringer Ingelheim; Eddingpharm; Merck &
Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA; Merck KGaA; Novartis; Novo
Nordisk; Sanofi and Taisho Pharmaceuticals. The Company is
headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on
www.ablynx.com.
For more information, please
contactAblynx:Dr Edwin MosesCEOt: +32 (0)9
262 00 07m: +32 (0)473 39 50 68e: edwin.moses@ablynx.com
Lies VannesteDirector Investor Relationst: +32 (0)9
262 01 37m: +32 (0)498 05 35 79 e:
lies.vanneste@ablynx.com
Follow us on Twitter @AblynxABLX
Ablynx media relations:Consilium Strategic
CommunicationsMary-Jane Elliott, Philippa Gardner, Sukaina
Virjit: +44 (0)20 3709 5700e:
ablynx@consilium-comms.com
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer KatcherDan
Katcher or Joseph Salat: +1 212-355-4449
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