The young biopharma company to-BBB finds itself at a very promising stage in its development. With Willem van Weperen as the new CEO, to-BBB has brought in a heavy weight professional with significant experience in the area most essential for to-BBB at this moment: developing proven technologies into commercial products.
Willem van Weperen joins to-BBB after a long career at Genzyme, where he was involved in the development and commercialization of innovative therapies in several European and Global leadership roles. These positions allowed him to be involved in the full spectrum of activities to bring a product from early stage to full commercialization. In his last position, he was General Manager of Genzyme Netherlands. Willem van Weperen graduated as Biomedical Scientist at the University of Utrecht and holds an MBA from NIMBAS/ Bradford University.
“I am immensely proud to join to-BBB at a moment that the G-Technology opens many different avenues to treat patients with serious CNS diseases.” says Willem van Weperen. “The last few years, the team of to-BBB has built a strong scientific foundation under the leadership of Pieter Gaillard. With such momentum in the company it is a privilege to help move development forward towards the clinic.”
Pieter Gaillard, CSO and founder of the company, is excited that Willem van Weperen has chosen to join the company now that the first Proof of Concept data of the recently in-licensed G-Technology look very promising. “We can now study a range of existing compounds formulated in our brain targeted liposomes. Furthermore, while many blood-brain barrier initiatives have been struggling with immunogenicity, the glutathione-based G-Technology seems to overcome this hurdle.”
Patrick Krol, partner at Aescap Venture and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of to-BBB comments: “Willem brings over 15 years of pharmaceutical experience in clinical development, marketing and general management. With his drive and network he will be able to increase the value of the company both through in-house development and by partnering with pharma companies.”
Based on the current Proof of Concept data with the G-Technology and on existing opportunities, the company will focus its in-house development efforts on brain tumors, Alzheimer’s disease and also on Lysosomal Storage Diseases. to-BBB believes there are also good partnering opportunities in these disease areas, as well as in other CNS areas, like pain, MS, Parkinson and viral encephalitis.
About to-BBB to-BBB is a Dutch biotechnology company in the field of brain-targeted drug delivery which uses its platform technologies to synergize with established and marketed drugs. to-BBB’s vision is that the treatment of currently unserved brain diseases will be best achieved by targeting to endogenous blood-to-brain uptake systems for the delivery of drugs. The company will be flexible, open-minded and collaborative in developing treatments for devastating brain disorders by combining existing drugs with proprietary drug targeting technologies.
to-BBB is headquartered in The Netherlands at the Leiden Bio Science Park and established a fully owned subsidiary, to-BBB Taiwan Ltd., in Taipei, Taiwan.
Contact
Willem van Weperen Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +31 71 3322252 Mobile: +31 634 054812 E-mail: vanweperen@toBBB.com
to-BBB technologies BV Niels Bohrweg 11, 2333 CA Leiden BioScience Park Leiden Bio Partner Center II The Netherlands
www.toBBB.com
