• Clinical Immunologist with more than 15 years combined FDA and pharmaceutical industry experience
• Successfully developed a broad range of drugs in a number of important therapeutic indications
Ghent, Belgium - 30 November 2015 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX; OTC: ABYLY] today announced the appointment of Robert K. Zeldin, MD, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Effective from 1 December 2015, Dr Zeldin will lead the Company’s global clinical development, regulatory and medical affairs activities. Dr Zeldin brings significant industry experience to the Company, having held senior level clinical development positions at top tier pharmaceutical companies, including Merck & Co., Inc. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
In his previous roles, Dr Zeldin headed teams in immunology, respiratory, dermatology and cardiovascular disease where he was responsible for clinical development through to commercialisation and life cycle management. He also successfully engaged key stakeholders including the scientific community, payers, patient advocacy groups and key opinion leaders. Prior to his move into the pharmaceutical industry, Dr Zeldin spent several years in private practice and two years as a Medical Officer at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. There he evaluated safety and efficacy data from all phases of clinical development. Dr Zeldin holds a Medical Doctor degree from the Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA. He completed Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh and Fellowship in Allergy & Clinical Immunology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr Zeldin replaces Dr Dominique Tersago as CMO.
Welcoming Dr Zeldin to the team, Dr Edwin Moses, CEO of Ablynx, said: “We are very pleased that someone with Robert’s track record and experience is joining Ablynx as Chief Medical Officer. Partly based in the USA, he will be invaluable in supporting our global clinical development activities as well as our interactions with the regulatory agencies and other key stakeholders. His extensive industry experience, including his contribution in obtaining regulatory approval of innovative immunotherapies, will be very important in supporting Ablynx in the development of Nanobody®–based therapeutics to address areas of high unmet need.”
Commenting on his appointment, Dr Zeldin added: “Ablynx has a late stage clinical portfolio of promising innovative product candidates based on its unique and powerful Nanobody technology. I am excited to be joining the Company at this key stage in its development, and look forward to working with the team to bring new medicines to the market, which have the potential to meaningfully improve patients’ lives.”
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 30 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, Genzyme, Merck & Co., Inc., Merck KGaA, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The Company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com.
