Nijmegen/Utrecht, the Netherlands, November 21, 2011 / B3C newswire / – InteRNA Technologies B.V., a drug discovery and development company engaged in the development of microRNA-based therapeutics for oncology, announces the establishment of its Supervisory Board. The Board will play a key role in guiding the Company to execute its ambitious business plan focused on the development of novel breakthrough cancer therapies derived from its unique proprietary collection of miRNAs.
The Supervisory Board is chaired by Anker Lundemose, MD, PhD, DMSc, who is currently a member of the Boards of Directors at both Topotarget (DK) and Adenium Biotech (DK). Dr. Lundemose is a serial biotech entrepreneur and co-founder of several biotech companies, including Prosidion Ltd (UK) and Symphogen A/S (DK). He has been CEO/President of Prosidion Ltd (UK) from 2003 to 2009, Executive Vice President at OSI Pharmaceuticals (NYC, US) from 2005 until the Astellas Pharma acquisition of OSI in 2010, and former managing director at OSI Pharma’s venture arm in Zug (CH). Previously, he held management positions at Novo Nordisk. Dr. Lundemose has served as member of the Board of Directors at Symphogen, Prosidion Ltd, OSI Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd, OSI Investment Holding GmbH & OSI Investment Management GmbH and at Display Biotech Systems A/S.
Other distinguished members appointed at the InteRNA Board are:
Mark Vaeck, PhD, CEO of Complix N.V.(B), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of Alphabodies™, a novel class of protein therapeutics. Previously, Mr. Vaeck was the founding CEO of ActoGeniX (B), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel protein therapeutics for oral delivery and co-founder and CEO of Ablynx (B), a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic antibody fragments. Mr. Vaeck has more than 25 years of experience in the biotech and pharma industry raising over 70 million Euro in equity financings and concluding several corporate deals with major pharmaceutical companies.
Sanne Weijzen, PhD, partner at Aglaia BioMedical Ventures (NL), founding investor and majority shareholder in InteRNA Technologies through its Aglaia Oncology Seed Fund. Mrs. Weijzen was responsible for the creation and incubation of the Company and remained actively involved during its recent transformation into a mature company.
Anker Lundemose said: “With its focus on microRNA-based therapeutics for cancer, InteRNA operates in an exciting and rapidly emerging field. The Company’s R&D programs have progressed significantly since its inception and I am very pleased to contribute to the further development of its products for clinical use to address the remaining high medical need cancer patients have.”
“We are very pleased with the appointment of this international Board of Directors and feel honored to work together with such an experienced team that is highly committed advising the Company on its further transformation from a discovery oriented company to a product development company”, said Roel Schaapveld, CEO of InteRNA Technologies.
About InteRNA Technologies B.V.
InteRNA Technologies develops cancer therapeutics based on a broadly applicable proprietary technology platform for the rapid identification and validation of therapeutic miRNAs. The Company has exclusive access to one of the largest miRNA libraries in the world. At present InteRNA has established in vivo proof of concept for multiple pipeline candidates. The Company is pursuing a proactive partnership strategy to acquire appropriate delivery technologies for its products and expects to engage in corporate partnerships to progress several of its products into clinical development.
InteRNA Technologies was incorporated in December 2006 by Aglaia Oncology Fund and has established close relationships with the research groups of its founders Edwin Cuppen, PhD, and Eugene Berezikov, PhD, of the Hubrecht Institute (Utrecht, NL), leading scientific groups in the field of miRNA research. The company further has a series of R&D partnerships with Dutch- and US-based academic hospitals and research institutes, such as VU medical center, Radboud University, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
See for more information www.interna-technologies.com.
Contacts:
Roel Schaapveld, PhD, MBA
CEO
InteRNA Technologies B.V.
Phone: +31 (0)302532386
E-mail: schaapveld@interna-technologies.com
