Asceneuron Appoints Prominent Healthcare Leader Catherine Moukheibir to its Board of Directors

by | Jul 16, 2021 | Press releases

Asceneuron Appoints Prominent Healthcare Leader Catherine Moukheibir to its Board of Directors

  • Underscores company’s ambition to deliver on the unmet needs of patients living with neurodegenerative diseases

Lausanne, SWITZERLAND and San Francisco, CA, USA, 16 July 2021 – Asceneuron SA, a clinical stage company dedicated to targeting the root cause of neurodegenerative diseases, announced today the appointment of Catherine Moukheibir to its Board of Directors.

Catherine is a highly respected healthcare executive with extensive experience over the last 30 years of leadership in finance, capital markets and life sciences. She has previously worked as a Chairman, Non-Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors, successfully raising private and public capital as well as overseeing several major licensing deals and acquisitions. 

Catherine currently serves on the Board of Directors at Biotalys, CMR Surgical, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc and Orphazyme A/S. Most recently, Catherine was the chair and CEO of MedDay Pharmaceuticals. She has held various other senior executive roles (Innate Pharma) and board memberships in companies such as Kymab, Ablynx, Genkyotex, Zealand Pharma and Creabilis. Earlier, she was the CFO of Movetis, overseeing the company’s IPO on Euronext and subsequent sale to Shire. Catherine started her career in investment banking and capital markets and worked in this industry for several years in the US and London, switching to corporate roles in life sciences 20 years ago. She holds an MBA and a Masters in Economics from Yale University. 

Peter Van Vlasselaer, Chairman of the Board of Asceneuron, commented: 

“We are delighted to welcome Catherine, a seasoned and highly respected industry leader, to the Board of Directors. Her corporate expertise and financial track record underscores our ambition and focus to deliver on the unmet needs of patients living with neurodegenerative diseases.” 

Catherine Moukheibir, Board of Directors of Asceneuron, commented: “Asceneuron is pioneering a new way of approaching neurodegenerative diseases and is developing a clinical pipeline of novel compounds which have the potential to be the basis for highly innovative treatments for a broad range of CNS diseases. I am pleased to be joining such an ambitious player in a field that has so much to offer to patients.” 

Dirk Beher, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Asceneuron, commented: “We are very pleased to have Catherine join Asceneuron at this particular stage of the company, given her extensive experience within the biotech industry. I look forward to shaping the growth of Asceneuron with Catherine’s valued insights and guidance as our two lead programs progress through clinical development.”

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For further information, please contact:

Asceneuron
Barbara Angehrn Pavik, CEO
Sandra Millet, Head of Operations
Email: asce-contact@asceneuron.com

Optimum Strategic Communications
Zoe Bolt
Tel: +44 (0) 20 388 296 21
Email: asceneuron@optimumcomms.com

About Asceneuron

Asceneuron is a clinical stage biotech company focused on the development of orally bioavailable therapeutics for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders with high unmet medical need. The company’s pipeline reflects its ambition and commitment to developing treatments for a wide a range of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as orphan tauopathies. Asceneuron has two clinical-stage small molecule O-GlcNAcase inhibitors in development for the treatment of proteinopathies: OGA inhibitor ASN90 (licensed to Ferrer Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and a potential best-in-class OGA inhibitor, ASN51 for Alzheimer’s disease. Asceneuron is backed by a renowned syndicate of investors consisting of Sofinnova Partners, M Ventures, SR One, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) and Kurma Partners. For more information, please visit www.asceneuron.com.

Asceneuron Receives USD 2.2 Million Award from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation

by | Mar 9, 2021 | News

Asceneuron Receives USD 2.2 Million Award from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation

Award will fund first in human clinical trials of next generation O-GlcNAcase inhibitor, ASN51, to start Q2 2021

Lausanne, SWITZERLAND and San Francisco, CA, USA, 9 March, 2021 – Asceneuron SA, an emerging leader in the development of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, announced today the receipt of a USD 2.2 million award from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) for a first in human Phase I study of the Company’s next generation O-GlcNAcase inhibitor, ASN51. The trial is due to recruit healthy volunteers and Alzheimer’s disease patients at sites in Europe and Australia, to start in Q2 2021, with first interim data due in Q3 2021.

The award will support a Phase 1 single ascending dose arm and a positron emission tomography (PET) target engagement study in healthy volunteers. The Phase 1 clinical trials will assess safety and tolerability of ASN51, and closely examine multiple biomarkers relevant to the target mechanism and neurodegeneration in healthy subjects and Alzheimer’s patients.

O-GlcNAcase is an emerging drug target in central nervous system (CNS) drug development since deficient glycosylation patterns of intracellular proteins have been associated with diseases of aging and neuronal dysfunction. O GlcNAcase inhibitors prevent the elimination of intracellular protein glycosylation, thereby halting the decline of the steady-state levels of this posttranslational modification. O GlcNAcase inhibitors have initially been pursued exclusively for tau-related diseases. Emerging preclinical data suggest a wider application to intracellular proteinopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, and diseases of disturbed neuronal network function in general, with the potential to provide both disease-modifying and symptomatic benefits at the same time as multimodal drugs.

Dirk Beher, Chief Executive Officer and a Co-Founder of Asceneuron, commented: 

“This Phase I clinical study targeting the root cause of neurodegeneration comes at a time when our current knowledge of the biology of O GlcNAcase has reached a critical inflection point. As a leader in this field, and with the welcome support of ADDF, we plan to translate our novel and exciting biology into significant health benefits for patients with neurodegenerative diseases.”

Howard Fillit, M.D., Founding Executive Director and Chief Science Officer of the ADDF, commented: 

“Alzheimer’s disease is a complex neurodegenerative disease, and many studies highlight the role of reducing neurodegeneration as a promising path to effective treatment. The ADDF is pleased to help advance Asceneuron’s research program to test this drug candidate in Alzheimer’s patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial.”

Peter Van Vlasselaer, Chairman of Asceneuron added: 

“We’re delighted to have received this substantial recognition from the ADDF for our work in neurodegeneration, and the potential of our pipeline. Together with support of the ADDF, we look to treatments for not just AD, but all and related dementias, providing new hope for the medical community, the patients, and their families / one of the greatest healthcare challenges of our time.”

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About Asceneuron
Asceneuron is a clinical stage biotech company focused on the development of orally bioavailable therapeutics for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders with high unmet medical need. The pipeline reflects our ambition to develop treatments for as wide a range of neurodegenerative diseases including orphan tauopathies, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The lead program ASN120290, an O-GlcNAcase inhibitor, is being developed for the orphan tauopathy progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Asceneuron is also developing a next generation O-GlcNAcase inhibitor ASN51 to target Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.
Asceneuron is a privately held company financed by a renowned syndicate of investors consisting of Sofinnova Partners, M Ventures, SR One, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) and Kurma Partners. For more information, please visit www.asceneuron.com.

About the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)
Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation is dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. Through the generosity of its donors, the ADDF has awarded more than $168 million to fund over 650 Alzheimer’s drug discovery and biomarker programs and clinical trials in 19 countries. To learn more, please visit: http://www.alzdiscovery.org/.

Asceneuron is sharing their experience on discovering innovative and effective therapeutics in the virtual session “Around the World in Neurodegeneration Drug Discovery”.

by | Dec 10, 2020 | Event

Asceneuron is sharing their experience on discovering innovative and effective therapeutics in the virtual session “Around the World in Neurodegeneration Drug Discovery”.

Genesis Digital 2020, the 20th annual London Life Science, Healthcare and Technology networking conference, was held virtually on Thursday 10th December 2020.

Genesis Digital 2020 assembles key biotechs, R&D companies, academics, members organisations, professional services and technology transfer groups. The aim of the conference is not to predict the next 20 years of industry development, but to gain a deep understanding of the current landscape to prepare for what is to come.

Virtual sessions “Around the World” were featuring key opinion leaders from different parts of the world. Our CEO Dirk Beher had the opportunity to share his experience on discovering innovative and effective therapeutics in the virtual session “Around the World in Neurodegeneration Drug Discovery”.

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Further information about the conference

Asceneuron will take part in a panel discussion at the Tau2020 Global Conference on February 12th-13th in Washington, D.C.

by | Jan 30, 2020 | Event

Asceneuron will take part in a panel discussion at the Tau2020 Global Conference on February 12th-13th in Washington, D.C.

The Tau2020 Global Conference will gather leading tau experts from around the world with peers from academia, industry, government and the philanthropic sector to discuss key issues impacting the tau research community. It will be held on February 12th-13th at the Mariott Marquis hotel, in Washington, D.C. 

Our CEO Dirk Beher will contribute to the panel discussion “Early Stage Investment in Tau Therapeutics” on Thursday, February 13th from 4:40 pm to 5:15 pm, at Tau2020.

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Further information about the conference program
Further information about the program

Asceneuron to attend the 38th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference taking place January 13-16, 2020 at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, CA.

by | Jan 10, 2020 | Event

Asceneuron to attend the 38th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference taking place January 13-16, 2020 at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, CA.

The annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is the largest and most informative healthcare investment symposium in the industry, bringing together industry leaders, emerging fast-growth companies, innovative technology creators, and members of the investment community.

Click here to learn more about the event.

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