GENEVA, Jan. 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ObsEva , a Swiss-based, speciality biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative drugs for women's reproductive medicine, with a main focus on therapies for preterm labor, announced today new appointments to its Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board.
Annette Clancy has been appointed Chairperson of the Board of Directors. With over 30 years-experience in the Pharmaceutical/Biopharm Industry, Annette has worked in a variety of functions (R&D, Commercial, Worldwide Business Development) in the US and UK, including 15 years in Business Development at GSK. Since 2009, she held various positions in public and privately funded healthcare companies providing her with a broad oversight and understanding of the industry. Annette is an advisor to a US based Healthcare Venture Capital firm (Frazier Healthcare). She has also served as a non-Executive Director on the Board of two public European companies (Silence Therapeutics, UK and Clavis Pharma, Norway) and in 2013 became Chairperson of the Board of a spin-out of Trinity College in Dublin, Genable Therapeutics.
"I am truly pleased to be joining and chairing the Board of ObsEva, a company with high potential, innovative drugs, a seasoned management team and a clear development plan in a therapeutic area where a new generation of drug is badly needed" said Annette Clancy.
"It is a great opportunity for ObsEva to have Annette chairing the Board of Directors. Her extensive and multidisciplinary experience in the pharma industry will be essential to guide ObsEva to success" said Ernest Loumaye, CEO and Co-Founder of ObsEva.
Jacky Vonderscher, PhD, has been appointed as Independent Member of the Board of Directors. He has had different leading positions in R&D at Sandoz, Novartis and finally at Roche where he was lately Global Head of Translational Research Sciences. His work was acknowledged in 1995 for the successful development of Sandimmune Neoral®. He is also a co-inventor on the patents of Mycophenolic Acid Sodium salt (Myfortic®) and of Everolimus (Certican® and Affinitor®). Since 2013, he is consultant for Biotech companies.
These newly elected members are joining Rafaèle Tordjman, MD, PhD, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, Jim Healy, MD, PhD, General Partner at Sofinnova Ventures, Kim Dueholm, PhD, Partner at Novo A/S, Jasper Bos, PhD, Director with Merck Serono Ventures and Ernest Loumaye, MD, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ObsEva who have been on the Board since the company funding in August 2013.
ObsEva also announced today the constitution of its Scientific Advisory Board with the appointment of three leading European obstetricians:
Phillip Bennett, MD, PhD – Obstetrician, Director, Institute for Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College, London - Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Imperial College, London.
Ben Willem Mol, MD, PhD – Gynaecologist, perinatologist and clinical epidemiologist - Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health, University of Adelaide, Australia.
Vassilis Tsatsaris, MD, PhD – Gynaecologist-Obstetrician, Maternité Port-Royal, Hôpital Cochin, Paris - INSERM Unit U767 «Normal and Pathological Pregnancy», University Paris Descartes.
"Having the inputs of truly independent, leading physicians in the therapeutic area is critical for successfully developing new drugs " said Ernest Loumaye. "I am therefore very pleased that Professors Bennett, Mol and Tsatsaris have accepted to join ObsEva Scientific Board, and we are looking forward to work closely with them on the clinical development of our innovative drugs addressing preterm labor".
About ObsEva
ObsEva SA is a Swiss-based, speciality biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative drugs for women's reproductive medicine. ObsEva's main focus is on therapies for preterm labor.
ObsEva was founded in November 2012, by Ernest Loumaye MD, PhD and André Chollet PhD. Ernest Loumaye is a specialist in female reproductive medicine with 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Ernest Loumaye was previously Co-Founder and CEO of PregLem SA, a successful biopharmaceutical company which was acquired by Gedeon Richter in 2010. André Chollet is specialist in medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry with more than 30 years of experience in various positions in the biopharmaceutical industry, including in Biogen, GSK and Merck Serono. André Chollet was responsible for the preterm labor program at Serono before the acquisition of the company by Merck KGaA.
ObsEva's founding assets are innovative products at early stages of clinical development addressing preterm labor as well as additional indications in reproductive medicine. For more information, please visit www.obseva.com .
For further information, please contact ObsEva CEO office: Delphine Renaud Tel: +41 22 552 1550 Email:
