April 12, 2010 – Utrecht, The Netherlands -- Today, Crossbeta Biosciences announced that it has successfully completed a financing round of up to Eur 2 million, which is funded by new as well as existing shareholders and also includes an Innovation Grant from SenterNovem. The financing will be used to further advance Crossbeta’s technology in several therapeutic areas and to establish a stronger position for co-development programs and commercialization partnerships.
At the same time, Crossbeta Biosciences announced today the appointment of Guus Scheefhals as Chief Executive Officer. Guus Scheefhals previously worked at Avantium in several managerial positions, most recently as Chief Operating Officer of the business unit Pharma. Before Avantium Guus Scheefhals held commercial positions at DSM Biologics, Analytico, and NPBI, which is now part of Fresenius. Guus Scheefhals holds a Masters Degree in Pharmacy from the Utrecht University.
With the appointment of Guus Scheefhals, Johan Renes steps down as CEO after being with the company from the start and since 2 years as part-time CEO. Johan Renes commented: “We are very pleased that we found Guus Scheefhals to take over my position at Crossbeta as full-time, dedicated CEO. Guus has a very extensive and broad experience in the pharma industry and I wish him success in taking Crossbeta to the next stage and in further advancing the commercialization of our technology. The new financing is a great support for the company and also provides Guus with an excellent starting position.”
Upon his appointment Guus Scheefhals commented: “Crossbeta is a great company with tremendous potential and I am very pleased and honoured by this appointment. Crossbeta has exciting technology that opens possibilities for new treatments of very significant diseases as well as for improving existing drugs. For me the new financing is a strong sign of confidence from the current and new shareholders in Crossbeta’s technology and in its prosperous future.”
About Crossbeta Biosciences:
Crossbeta Biosciences is a biotech company aimed at developing therapeutic applications of its crossbeta technology. The crossbeta technology is based on crossbeta structures in misfolded proteins and the crossbeta pathway which is a system in the body that recognizes and destroys these misfolded proteins. Misfolding of proteins is a common feature of aging proteins and misfolded proteins with crossbeta structures are toxic and associated with the progression of major diseases of today’s Western world and aging population. Diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. Crossbeta structures give rise to an immunogenic response and this provides opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of vaccines and to improve the tolerability of biopharmaceutical drugs.
