Kymab appoints Dr Christian Groendahl as Chief Executive Officer and Dr David Chiswell as Chairman
Cambridge, UK, 2nd September 2013: Kymab, a monoclonal antibody biopharmaceutical company, announced today the appointment of Dr Christian Groendahl as Chief Executive Officer and Dr David Chiswell, currently non-executive Director of Kymab, as Chairman, to take effect from 16 September 2013. Kymab is using the Kymouse™ transgenic human antibody platform to discover and develop fully human monoclonal antibody drugs. Under the leadership of Dr Groendahl, Dr Chiswell and Dr Allan Bradley, Chief Scientific Officer, Kymab plans to further develop its platform and advance several drug candidates to clinical development stage over the next five years.
Dr Chiswell, newly appointed Chairman of Kymab, commented on the appointment: “Christian’s track record at Novo Nordisk and Zealand Pharma in building drug portfolios and progressing new medicines through clinical development, from both within and in partnership with global pharma companies, will enable us to maximise the potential of the Kymouse platform.
“I would like to thank Andrew Sandham, who is stepping down as Chairman and CEO. Andy has done a tremendous job establishing Kymab and leading us from inception to this important transition stage. We all wish him every success in his next venture.”
Dr Allan Bradley, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Kymab, added: “Kymab has developed a world class human antibody discovery platform since its formation in 2009. Christian’s unique mix of skills and experience will be invaluable in taking the company to the next level.”
Dr Groendahl said: “The Kymouse technology provides a world class platform for the discovery of highly selective, potent therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies for a broad range of unmet medical needs. I am delighted to be joining Kymab and look forward to working with the founder Professor Allan Bradley, the board and the excellent Kymab team in building a substantial biopharmaceutical business in Europe over the next decade.”
Andrew Sandham will continue to support Kymab as a consultant until the end of the year.
Dr Groendahl has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for nearly 20 years. Previously, he served as Chief Scientific Officer of Zealand Pharma, where he was responsible for building its clinical stage R&D portfolio and forging corporate partnerships with major pharma companies and took part in its initial public offering on the NASDAQ OMX in 2010. Before this, Christian held research, development, clinical and corporate roles over a long career with Novo Nordisk, including VP Cancer and Inflammation, Corporate VP for Global Clinical Development and Corporate Development and Alliance Management.
Dr Chiswell has over 30 years’ experience in the biotechnology industry, having co-founded Cambridge Antibody Technology in 1990 and, as CEO, built and developed the business and led public offerings on the LSE and NASDAQ exchanges. Since 2002 he served as chairman of a number of biotechnology companies including Nabriva Therapeutics, Sosei, and Daniolabs. He is currently also non-executive chairman of Albireo Pharma and a director of Nabriva Therapeutics. He joined the Kymab board in 2012.
About Kymab
Kymab is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of fully human monoclonal antibody drugs using its proprietary Kymouse™ transgenic antibody platform.
Kymouse™ has been designed to maximise the diversity of human antibodies produced in response to immunisation with antigens. Selecting from a broad diversity of fully human antibodies assures the highest probability of finding that rare drug candidate with best-in-class characteristics. Kymab is using the platform for its internal drug discovery programmes and in partnership with pharmaceutical companies. The first Kymouse™ antibody discovery agreement was concluded with Novo Nordisk in 2013.
Founded in 2009, Kymab raised £20m of equity financing in 2010 from the investment division of the Wellcome Trust. It has an experienced management team with a successful track record in drug discovery and development and has six current therapeutic antibody discovery programmes in oncology, inflammatory and vascular diseases.
For further information, please visit www.kymab.com
Contact Kymab:
Dr. Christian Groendahl, Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +44 (0)1223 833301, Email: christian.groendahl@kymab.com
Hume Brophy:
Mary Clark, Hollie Vile, Supriya Mathur
Tel: +44 (0)20 3440 5654, Email: kymab@humebrophy.com
Kymab and Kymouse are trademarks of Kymab Limited.
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