LEEDS, England, January 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --
4D pharma plc (AIM: DDDD), a pharmaceutical company leading the
development of Live Biotherapeutics, today announces the
appointment of Ed Baracchini, PhD,
and Professor Axel Glasmacher, MD,
as independent Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect.
Ed Baracchini, PhD, was
previously the Chief Business Officer at Xencor Inc. where he led
strategic alliances and licensing. During his time at Xencor he
negotiated license agreements with Novartis ($2.6B: immune-oncology bispecific antibodies),
Novo Nordisk ($600M: drug discovery
collaboration), Amgen ($500M: option
and development agreement autoimmune disease antibody) among
numerous others. Prior to that he served as SVP Business
Development for Metabasis Therapeutics.
Professor Dr. med. Axel
Glasmacher was until recently Senior Vice President and Head
of the Global Clinical Research and Development Hematology Oncology
at Celgene, where he has worked in various global roles for more
than ten years. His work at Celgene led to the approvals of
Revlimid®, Idhifa®, and Vidaza®
(haematological cancers). He also worked on the PD-L1
inhibitor durvalumab. Prior to Celgene, Professor Glasmacher
worked within the fields of hematology-oncology at the University
Hospital in Bonn.
Duncan Peyton, 4D's Chief
Executive Officer, commented: "We welcome Axel and Ed to our Board
with great pleasure. Their collective experience will
strengthen our commercial and therapeutic focus, as 4D accelerates
development of its extensive pipeline in cancer and other
immunological diseases."
The following information is disclosed in accordance with Rule
17 and Schedule 2 paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.
Edgardo (Ed) Baracchini Jr., 59,
has no interest in shares in 4D pharma plc and has the following
current and previous company directorships and partnerships:
Current Company Directorships and
Partnerships:
None
Company Directorships and Partnerships held in last 5
years:
INmune Bio, Inc.
Axel Gaston Glasmacher, 58, has
no interest in shares in 4D pharma plc and has the following
current and previous company directorships and partnerships:
Current Company Directorships and
Partnerships:
AG Life Science Consulting GmbH & Co. KG - finalisation of
formal incorporation pending
Glasmacher Verwaltungs-GmbH - finalisation of formal
incorporation pending
Company Directorships and Partnerships held in last 5
years:
None
Save for the disclosures above, there are no further disclosures
to be made in accordance with Rule 17 and Schedule 2 paragraph (g)
of the AIM Rules for Companies.
About 4D
Founded in February 2014, 4D is a
world leader in the development of live biotherapeutics, a novel
and emerging class of drugs, defined by the FDA as biological
products that contain a live organism, such as bacteria, that is
applicable to the prevention, treatment or cure of a disease. 4D
has developed a proprietary platform that rationally identifies
novel bacteria that have a precise and evolved therapeutic effect.
All of 4D's live biotherapeutic products are orally delivered
single strains of bacteria that are naturally found in the healthy
human gut. 4D has a phase II study in Irritable Bowel Syndrome
running and has a pipeline of 13 pre-clinical programmes, covering
disease areas such as cancer, poorly controlled asthma, autoimmune
and CNS disease. The Company plans to commence three
additional clinical studies in 2019.
For more information, refer to https://www.4dpharmaplc.com
For further information please contact:
4D
Duncan Peyton, Chief Executive
Officer
+44(0)113-895-0130
Fay Weston, Head of Investor
Relations
+44(0)7990-381713
Zeus Capital Limited - Nomad and Joint Broker
Dan Bate / Jordan Warburton
+44(0)161-831-1512
Bryan Garnier & Co.
Limited - Joint Broker
Dominic Wilson / Phil Walker
+44(0)20-7332-2500