Dynacure Announces Appointment of Jean M. Franchi to its Board of Directors
STRASBOURG, France and PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynacure, a clinical-stage company focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies to transform the lives of patients with rare diseases who have limited or no treatment options, announced today the appointment of Jean M. Franchi to its Board of Directors. Ms. Franchi is an experienced board member, finance executive and operational leader with more than three decades of experience in the life sciences industry.
"I am very pleased to welcome Jean to the Dynacure Board," said Georges Gemayel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dynacure. "Jean will be a valuable addition to our team, bringing expertise in financial and long-term strategies, and we look forward to her guidance."
"Dynacure is a leader in rare disease drug development, as evidenced by its lead product candidate DYN101, which is in clinical development for the treatment of Myotubular and Centronuclear Myopathies for which there are no FDA or EMA approved therapeutics," said Ms. Franchi. "I am honored to join the Dynacure Board and am eager to help the team advance its pipeline through development."
Ms. Franchi brings to Dynacure's Board over 30 years of experience in the biotechnology and life sciences industry where she has held senior financial management roles at both U.S. and international companies. Ms. Franchi currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Replimune, a Nasdaq listed clinical stage biotechnology company. Previously, Ms. Franchi served as the Chief Financial Officer for Merrimack Pharmaceuticals where she streamlined financial operations while strengthening the balance sheet. Prior to Merrimack, Ms. Franchi also served as Chief Financial Officer at Good Start Genetics and subsequently at Dimension Therapeutics, Inc. Before these roles, Ms. Franchi also spent 16 years at Genzyme (acquired by Sanofi in 2011), holding several positions including Senior Vice President of Finance for all business units and Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance in which she played a key role in the approximately $20+ billion acquisition of Genzyme by Sanofi. Ms. Franchi holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Hofstra University.
Stephane van Rooijen, Chief Executive Officer of Dynacure added, "Jean and I had the pleasure of working together in operational roles at Genzyme. Her expertise and proven track record as an operational and strategic financial leader at global companies will be invaluable to us as we advance Dynacure into our next phase of growth."
About Dynacure
Dynacure is a clinical-stage company focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies to transform the lives of patients with rare diseases who have limited or no treatment options. The Dynacure team leverages its proven track record in rare disease drug development to build a pipeline of novel drug candidates. Dynacure is developing DYN101, an investigational antisense product candidate designed to reduce the expression of dynamin 2 protein for the treatment of Myotubular and Centronuclear Myopathies, in strategic collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Dynacure is also building a complementary research portfolio targeting other orphan disorders, including its DYN201 program for the treatment of Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias (caused by mutations in the SPG11 gene).
Dynacure is headquartered in Strasbourg, France with a corporate office in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Dynacure's investors include Andera Partners, Bpifrance Large Venture, Bpifrance through its FABS and Fonds Biothérapies Innovantes et Maladies Rares funds, Idinvest, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Kurma Partners, Perceptive Advisors, Pontifax and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management LLC.
For more information, please visit www.dynacure.com.
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SOURCE Dynacure