HEIDELBERG, Germany and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Alantos Pharmaceuticals AG, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on small molecule drug discovery utilizing its unique TACE (Target Amplified drug Candidate Evolution) synthesis and screening technology, today announced the appointment of Keith E. Dionne, Ph.D., to the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Fritz Frickel, who has been Acting CEO and CSO, will assume the position of Executive Vice President of Research and Development.
"This is a pivotal period of time in the evolution of Alantos and we are very excited to have secured the leadership of Dr. Keith Dionne," said Dr. Frickel. "Keith has an extremely impressive track record in terms of pharmaceutical and business development, creation of corporate infrastructure, negotiation and exploration of licensing opportunities, and the establishment and management of corporate alliances. As we progress with our business development initiatives and advance our own drug discovery efforts, having someone of his caliber as CEO optimally positions Alantos to capitalize on the strength and promise of our technology driven therapeutic products."
Prior to joining Alantos, Dr. Dionne was with Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he held positions of increasing responsibility, concluding his seven-year tenure as both Vice President of Research and Development Strategy and Vice President & General Manager: Technology Business. As Vice President of R&D Strategy, he chaired the Portfolio Development Committee responsible for operating the therapeutic development portfolio from early development candidate through launch. In establishing Millennium's Technology Solutions Business, Dr. Dionne successfully led the Millennium/Aventis Technology Alliance, as well as the Millennium/Monsanto Agricultural Alliance. In guiding the Monsanto Alliance, he spearheaded the start-up of Cereon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Monsanto. His experience with Cereon included initial strategic planning and the hiring of more than 200 scientists. Prior to that, Dr. Dionne was responsible for program management throughout Millennium's Technology Development division and for the management of Millennium's technology collaborations.
Before his tenure with Millennium, Dr. Dionne served as Head of Pre- Clinical Research & Development: Implants at ALZA Pharmaceuticals. While with ALZA, he led the development of the Duros(TM) family of implantable drug delivery systems and was responsible for guiding the development for Viadur(TM), a 12-month implant for treating hormone responsive prostate cancer, from concept to phase II clinical trials in less than three years.
Dr. Dionne was one of four original scientists at CytoTherapeutics, Inc., a cell transplantation company. He has served as an Adjunct Professor in the Biomedical Department at Brown University. Dr. Dionne received both his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and his M.S. in the Program for Technology Policy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Alantos' technology has the potential to significantly expedite the discovery of novel pharmaceutical products," said Dr. Dionne. "Despite the revolutionary advances on the genomic research front, the discovery stage continues to represent the most challenging elements of the pharmaceutical development process. Alantos' proprietary technology platform meets the discovery challenge by rapidly identifying drug-able chemistries through the interaction of biological targets and chemical synthesis. The innovative technology, and the opportunity to create a leading discovery company with a world- class team, compelled me to join Alantos. I am confident that these keys will serve a crucial role in the discovery initiatives of collaborative partners and provide us with an important advantage in the development of our own pipeline."
About the TACE Platform:
Based on the approach pioneered in the laboratory of Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in chemistry, TACE (Target Amplified drug Candidate Evolution) generates highly diverse libraries of chemical compounds and simultaneously identifies active ligands in the presence of a biological target, thereby enhancing the speed and efficiency of small molecule drug discovery.
This innovative approach offers the following advantages:
* The ability to rapidly explore biological / chemical interactions in
the native state, independent of pre-synthesized libraries
* The rapid identification of novel chemical structures with high
affinity to known and novel targets
* Enhanced lead optimization of selective and highly potent nM compounds
to biological targets
* The ability to work with targets, even in the absence of three
dimensional structure or information concerning biological function.
About The Company:
Alantos Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1999 to capitalize on the clinical and commercial potential of the TACE platform. The Company is developing an internal pipeline of novel drugs, while simultaneously partnering with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on their drug discovery efforts. The Company has established proof of principle and secured its first collaborative partnership where it has applied TACE to targets provided by a major international pharmaceutical company. With operations in Heidelberg, Germany and Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Company currently employs 40 people.
For more information on the Company, please visit http://www.alantos.com/ .
Alantos Pharmaceuticals AGCONTACT: Matthias Jaffe, Vice President Finance and Administration,Alantos Pharmaceuticals, AG, +49-6221-739-01-15; Rhonda Chiger (Investors)+1-917-322-2569, or Pete Holmberg (Media), +1-917-322-2164, both of RxCommunications Group for Alantos Pharmaceuticals
Web site: http://www.alantos.com/
