CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Wednesday 18 December 2019 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE)--
FerGene, a new gene therapy company launched by Ferring Pharmaceuticals
and Blackstone Life Sciences in November, today announced the
appointment of David Meek as President and Chief Executive Officer,
effective January 14, 2020.
Mr. Meek has 30 years of industry
experience. Most recently, he has served as CEO of Ipsen, a leading
global biopharmaceutical company focused on innovation and specialty
care and dedicated to improving lives through the discovery of new
medicines in oncology, neuroscience and rare diseases.
“I’m honored to lead FerGene in this
exciting role and spearhead the effort to develop and commercialize this
critical and innovative therapy and advance its clinical development.
We will build a committed, patient-centric team and with the support
from Ferring and Blackstone Life Sciences, I am confident we can
efficiently and effectively bring this life changing therapy to patients
in need,” said Mr. Meek.
Jean Duvall, Co-Chair of FerGene and
Executive Committee member of Ferring Pharmaceuticals, said, “We are
extremely confident in David and his ability to lead and build FerGene
as it seeks to bring a promising therapy to market for bladder cancer
patients and improve the standard of care. With an impressive track
record of corporate leadership experience, David is poised to excel in
this role.”
Paris Panayiotopoulos, Co-Chair of
FerGene and Blackstone Life Sciences Managing Director, said, “We are
thrilled to welcome David as FerGene’s new CEO. David’s proven track
record of growing businesses across both Biotech and Pharma, as well as
his deep knowledge of the US Oncology market, make him the ideal fit to
lead FerGene. David’s experience will be instrumental as we advance a
breakthrough investigational gene therapy that offers the potential to
meaningfully improve the standard of care for a patient population which
has seen little innovation over the past twenty years.”
FerGene was launched in November 2019
with a focus on US commercialization of nadofaragene firadenovec
(rAd-IFN/Syn3), an investigational novel gene therapy in late stage
development for patients with high-grade, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)
unresponsive, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).
FerGene also recently announced Phase 3
study results of nadofaragene firadenovec, which FerGene reports met its
primary endpoint with more than half of patients with high-grade, BCG
unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (cis ± ta/t1) achieving a
complete response at three months.
While at Ipsen, Mr. Meek has led a
growth strategy of financial results and pipeline advancement. He has
also transformed Ipsen into a global biopharma growth leader with
initiatives to transform external innovation, Ipsen’s R&D operations
and build out the company’s footprint in countries like the U.S. and
China. In addition to his time as CEO of Ipsen, Mr. Meek’s prior
leadership roles have included serving as Executive Vice President &
President of Oncology at Baxalta from 2014 – 2016, following its
spin-off from Baxter. He was also Chief Commercial Officer of Endocyte
from 2012 – 2014. Prior to that, Mr. Meek served in various executive
leadership roles at Novartis Pharma and Novartis Oncology after
beginning his career at Johnson & Johnson and Janssen from 1989 –
2004.
About nadofaragene firadenovec
Nadofaragene firadenovec (rAd-IFN/Syn3)
is an investigational gene therapy being developed as a treatment for
patients with high-grade, BCG unresponsive, NMIBC. It is an adenovirus
vector-based gene therapy containing the gene interferon alfa-2b,
administered by catheter into the bladder every three months. The vector
enters the cells of the bladder wall, where, it breaks down, releasing
the active gene to do its work. The internal gene/DNA machinery of the
cells ‘picks up’ the gene and translates its DNA sequence, resulting in
the cells secreting high quantities of interferon alfa-2b protein, a
naturally occurring protein the body uses to fight cancer. This novel
gene therapy approach thereby turns the patient's own bladder wall cells
into multiple interferon microfactories, enhancing the body's natural
defenses against the cancer.
About Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC)
NMIBC is an early form of bladder cancer
which is present in the superficial layer of the bladder and has not
invaded deeper into the bladder or spread to other parts of the body.1
It is estimated that there will be 80,000 new cases of bladder cancer
in the U.S. in 2019; more than 70% of these cases present as NMIBC.2,,3
In patients with high-grade NMIBC, intravesical BCG is the recommended
treatment; however, between 30% and 50% cases with high-grade disease
will recur.4 The outcome for BCG unresponsive patients is
poor, with total cystectomy (complete removal of the bladder) often
being the next treatment option.5
About FerGene
FerGene, a new gene therapy company and
Ferring subsidiary, has been created to potentially commercialize
nadofaragene firadenovec in the U.S. and to advance the global clinical
development. FerGene’s goal is to bring this promising therapy to a
patient population which has seen little improvement in their standard
of care over the past twenty years. Blackstone Life Sciences will invest
$400 million USD and Ferring will invest up to $170 million USD in
FerGene.
About Blackstone Life Sciences
Blackstone Life Sciences is a private
investment platform with capabilities to invest across the life-cycle of
companies and products within the key life science sectors. By
combining scale investments and hands-on operational leadership,
Blackstone Life Sciences helps bring to market promising new medicines
that improve patients’ lives.
About Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a
research-driven, specialty biopharmaceutical group committed to helping
people around the world build families and live better lives.
Headquartered in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, Ferring is a leader in
reproductive medicine and maternal health, and in specialty areas within
gastroenterology and urology. Founded in 1950, Ferring now employs
approximately 6,500 people worldwide, has its own operating subsidiaries
in nearly 60 countries and markets its products in 110 countries.
Learn more at www.ferring.com, or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
1 Anastasiadis A, de Reijke TM. Best practice in the Treatment of Nonmuscle Invasive Bladder Cancer. Ther Adv Urol. 2012;4(1):13-32
2 Maruf, M et al., Non invasive bladder cancer: a primer on immunotherapy. Cancer Biol Med. 2016;13(2):194-205.
3 Ghatalia, Pooja et al. “Approved checkpoint inhibitors in bladder cancer: which drug should be used when?.” Therapeutic advances in medical oncology vol. 10 1758835918788310. 30 Jul. 2018, doi:10.1177/1758835918788310.
4 Cambier S et al. EORTC
Nomograms and Risk Groups for Predicting Recurrence, Progression, and
Disease-specific and Overall Survival in Non–Muscle-invasive Stage Ta–T1
Urothelial Bladder Cancer Patients Treated with 1–3 Years of
Maintenance Bacillus Calmette-Guérin. European Urolology. 2016, Vol.
69(1): 60-69.
5 Cookson, M et al.,Use of
intravesical valrubicin in clinical practice for treatment of
nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer, including carcinoma in situ of the
bladder. Therapeutic Advances in Urology. 2014, Vol. 5(5):181-191.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191217005949/en/
Contacts
Bhavin Vaid
Head of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Ferring Pharmaceuticals
+41 79 191 0632
bhavin.vaid@ferring.com
Head of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Ferring Pharmaceuticals
+41 79 191 0632
bhavin.vaid@ferring.com
