Syntimmune has appointed Jean-Paul Kress as president and CEO.
Syntimmune has appointed Jean-Paul Kress as president and chief executive officer. He replaces David de Graaf, who stepped down as chief executive and resigned from the company’s board of directors.
Before joining Syntimmune, Kress was executive vice president and president, International, and head of Global Therapeutic Operations at Biogen. Prior to Biogen, Kress was senior vice president, Head of North America at Sanofi Genzyme. He held executive management positions prior to that with Sanofi Pasteur, Gilead, and Eli Lilly.
“Jean-Paul possesses decades of experience bringing to market therapies based on breakthrough science,” said Burt Adelman, Syntimmune’s lead independent director and company advisor, in a statement. “We are very pleased to welcome this industry veteran at the helm of Syntimmune. We believe Jean-Paul’s leadership brings vision and expertise that will be transformational as the company matures toward becoming a late-stage development organization and continues to rapidly advance therapies targeting FcRn biology to patients.”
On Nov. 2, 2017, Syntimmune announced clinical data from its Phase Ia clinical trial of its lead drug candidate, SYNT001. It showed a favorable safety profile and tolerability in healthy volunteers. The compound is a first-in-class monoclonal antibody that blocks FcRn-IgG interactions. It is being developed for several autoimmune diseases that are dependent upon IgG.
FcRn is a mediator of immunoglobulin G-related immunity, making it a significant pathway allowing abnormal IgG responses in many diseases, including autoimmune diseases. There are no commercially available therapies currently approved that block IgG-FcRn interactions. These diseases include inflammatory bowel disease, lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis and others.
“The Phase Ia data we are presenting provide the first clinical evidence showing SYNT001 can effectively block and dismantle the FcRn-mediated processes that drive autoimmune diseases and that derive from the activities of IgG,” said Richard Blumberg, Syntimmune’s scientific founder and senior author of the abstract that was presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. “SYNT001 was designed to optimally inhibit FcRn interactions with monomeric and multimeric IgG in acidic intracellular compartments where FcRn function mainly takes place. These data demonstrate significant, rapid, and dose-dependent reductions of all IgG subclasses that are durable through 28 days, following a single intravenous administration of SYNT001 to healthy volunteers.”
In June 2017, Syntimmune closed on a $50 million Series B financing. It was led by Apple Tree Partners, which committed $48 million to the round. Existing partners participated, including Partners Innovation Fund, FMB Research, and AFB Fund. The funds were used to advance two ongoing Phase Ib/2a clinical trials of SYNT001 in pemphigus and warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia.
David de Graaf joined Syntimmune in July 2016. Prior to that, he was a venture partner at Apple Tree Partners and an Entrepreneur in Residence for Flagship VentureLabs. From March 2015 through November 2015, de Graaf was executive chairman of Selventa.
“We are grateful for David de Graaf’s many contributions during a period of substantial progress at Syntimmune, during which we initiated two mid-stage clinical trials of our lead candidate, SYNT001, and completed a successful Series B financing that has positioned us well for further advancement,” said Blumberg, in a statement.
