Geneva, Switzerland, 18 September 2017 - Addex Therapeutics (SIX: ADXN) announced today that Robert Lutjens, Head of Discovery will join the Executive Management Team and take over scientific leadership with support from Professor Ray Hill, Imperial College London and an Addex Non-Executive Board Member. Sonia Poli will transition from her role as Chief Scientific Officer to a role as Advisor and step down from the Executive Management Team. Roger Mills, Chief Medical Officer and Board Member, will take on a broader role in leading the transition of compounds from preclinical to first in man studies.
Robert Lütjens joined Addex in 2002, at its founding and has played a pivotal role in building the Addex allosteric modulator platform, and the discovery of the Addex portfolio of preclinical programs, including Addex TrkB PAM program which recently attracted support from the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Robert was also part of the Addex team which discovered dipraglurant, our lead clinical program that is ready to start pivotal studies in levodopa-induced dyskinesia associated with Parkinson’s disease.
“I would like to welcome Robert to the Executive Team and wish him well in his new role leading the science at Addex,” said Tim Dyer, Chief Executive Officer of Addex, “I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Sonia for her significant and valuable contributions to Addex over the past 13 years, we very much look forward to continuing to work with Sonia in her capacity as an advisor.”
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to add my sincere thanks and appreciation for the excellent job Sonia has done and her dedication to Addex,” said Vincent Lawton, Chairman of Addex. “We wish her continued success in her new role at Addex and success in her other future endeavors.”
Addex Therapeutics (www.addextherapeutics.com) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel, orally available, small molecule allosteric modulators for neurological disorders. Allosteric modulators are an emerging class of small molecule drugs which have the potential to be more specific and confer significant therapeutic advantages over conventional “orthosteric” small molecule or biological drugs. Addex’s allosteric modulator drug discovery platform targets receptors and other proteins that are recognized as essential for therapeutic intervention - the Addex pipeline was generated from this pioneering allosteric modulator drug discovery platform. Addex’s lead drug candidate, dipraglurant (mGluR5 negative allosteric modulator or NAM) has successfully completed a Phase 2a POC in Parkinson’s disease levodopa-induced dyskinesia (PD-LID), and is being prepared to enter registration trials for PD-LID with support from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF). In parallel, dipraglurant’s therapeutic use in dystonia is being investigated with support from the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF). Addex’s second clinical program, ADX71149 (mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator or PAM) is being developed in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc for epilepsy. In addition, ADX71441 (GABAB receptor PAM) has received regulatory approval to start Phase 1 and is being investigated for its therapeutic use in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 1A disease (CMT1A), cocaine and alcohol use disorder and nicotine dependence. Discovery programs include mGluR4PAM, mGluR7NAM, TrkBPAM and mGluR3NAM & PAM.
Press Contacts:
| Tim Dyer Chief Executive Officer Addex Therapeutics Telephone: +41 22 884 15 61 Email: PR@addextherapeutics.com |
Disclaimer / Forward-looking statements: This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Addex Therapeutics Ltd. This publication may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
