NEW YORK, Aug. 20, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premune, a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for allergies and autoimmune-related disorders in companion animals, today announced the appointment of Dr. Carl K. Johnson, D.V.M. as Chief Medical Officer. Johnson, who will be based in Premune's New York office and report directly to CEO Viktor Karlsson, will be responsible for leading Premune's global product development initiatives. Johnson is the most recent senior-level hire since the Company announced the establishment of its U.S. office on April 15, 2014.
"We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Johnson join the Premune team as a distinguished veterinary and biotechnology leader with substantive experience in pharmaceutical and veterinary product development. We believe his proven knowledge and leadership will be of great assistance as we work toward advancing our proprietary pipeline of animal health product candidates," said Premune CEO and co-founder, Viktor Karlsson. "We were quite impressed with Carl's breadth of expertise and his deep understanding of veterinary pharmaceutical development. His experience in successfully advancing early stage R&D programs through clinical development is very valuable to a company like ours. We believe that Carl's strong technical and leadership capabilities will be a great asset as we work to develop our product pipeline."
Johnson joins Premune with more than 25 years of experience in animal health. Most recently, he was Global Head of Project and Portfolio Management at Merial, a subsidiary of Sanofi Company, where his team developed new pharmaceutical and biological products including, NexGard, which is used for the treatment of fleas and ticks, and Broadline, a topical endectocide for cats. Johnson was also involved in the development of several vaccine line extensions for both dogs and cats. Prior to Merial, Johnson worked with Baxter Healthcare's animal research facility in a variety of senior-level research positions focused on compliance, preclinical safety and efficacy research and product development. Johnson also held senior roles at Intervet, Inc. and in the animal health divisions of Pfizer and Schering-Plough. Johnson earned a Masters of Arts degree in Geological Sciences from Harvard University and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Cornell University.
"Working with Premune is an exciting opportunity to join a company that is developing a robust product pipeline that targets significant unmet medical needs in the companion animal health market," said Johnson. "As the company advances its product candidates I look forward to assisting in Premune's transformation of its ongoing clinical research into novel commercial products."
About Premune:
Premune is a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for allergies and autoimmune-related disorders in companion animals. The Company's product candidates seek to target conditions that are common in pets such as allergies and inflammatory diseases. Premune's current product candidates are built on years of collective research in bacteriology and immunology by our scientific team at leading Swedish research institutions, including the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The Company is continuously seeking to expand its product candidate portfolio through a combination of in-house research and development projects and in-licensing additional product candidates. Premune aims to advance its product candidates through clinical development and introduce them into the companion animal health market.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
Statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements." These statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "looks forward to," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will," "project" or words of similar meaning. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Premune's management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Premune's control, can affect the operations, performance, development of products, business strategy, timing and results. Without limiting the foregoing, the development, testing, regulatory approval process and the timeline associated with development, manufacture and sale of therapeutic products in the animal health industry are inherently uncertain. Premune is neither required nor intends to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
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