TMCnet News

Genkyotex Announces New Senior Management and Board Appointments
[May 19, 2014]

Genkyotex Announces New Senior Management and Board Appointments


GENEVA & ARCHAMPS, France --(Business Wire)--

Genkyotex, the leading developer of selective NOX enzyme inhibitors, announced today the appointment of Dr. Jeanette Wood as Chief Scientific Officer and Dr. Joseph McCracken to the Board of Directors.

Dr. Wood joins Genkyotex with more than 30 years research experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently at AstraZeneca. In her role as Vice President and Head of iScience, Oncology iMed, she was responsible for the oncology early discovery portfolio, which consisted mostly of small molecule candidates, and leading the biology, chemistry and DMPK functions, which support both the research and development portfolios. Before joining AstraZeneca, Dr. Wood was Head of Biology at oncology company S*BIO Pte Ltd in Singapore. For more than 11 years, Dr. Wood worked in the oncology unit of Novartis developing expertise and a portfolio based on angiogenesis. Her industry career started in the cardiovascular group at Ciba-Geigy, where as Hypertension Group Leader she led the team that played a major role in the discovery and development of the angiotensin II receptor antagonist valsartan (DIOVAN) and the renin inhibitor aliskiren (TEKTURNA). Dr. Wood earned her PhD in pharmacology from the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand).

"These appointments bring a wealth of experience to our management team and Board. Jeanette has a strong track record in developing new drugs through early stages of R&D. She joins Genkyotex at a perfect time as we are looking to advance nove NOX inhibitors further into development to add to our maturing pipeline of drug candidates led by GKT137831, in Phase 2 for diabetic nephropathy," said Dr. Ursula Ney, CEO of Genkyotex. "Joe is a very welcome addition to the Board. His extensive global partnering expertise is a great asset, particularly when we look to the future of GKT137831 after Phase 2 and leveraging our NOX inhibitor technology platform to potential partners."



Dr. Joe McCracken has more than 25 years of experience in technical, business development and market development roles with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Most recently he was Global Head for Business Development & Licensing at Roche Pharma, where he was responsible for Roche Pharma's global in-licensing and out-licensing activities. Prior to Roche Pharma, Dr. McCracken held the position of Vice President, Business Development at Genentech for more than 10 years. He was also at one time Director of Business Development and Representative Director of Genentech Ltd., Genentech's wholly owned subsidiary in Japan, and has also held the positions of President of Technology Licensing and Alliances at Aventis, and Vice President of Worldwide Business and Technology Development at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer S.A.

Dr. McCracken holds a BSc in Microbiology, a MSc in Pharmacology and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, USA).


About Genkyotex

Genkyotex is developing first in class, small molecule therapeutics that specifically and selectively inhibit the NOX family of enzymes. Using a unique screening platform, Genkyotex has identified novel NOX inhibitors with the potential to treat disease areas with a high clinical need and large market potential. The company's lead product, GKT137831, is now in a Phase 2 clinical study in patients with diabetic nephropathy and has shown promise in several other disease models, including atherosclerosis, lung and liver fibrosis, osteoporosis, and in models of angiogenesis. Genkyotex was founded in 2006 by scientists from Switzerland, the USA and Japan, with backing from Geneva incubator Eclosion. Since 2011, expansion of the investor base, led by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, with Vesalius BioCapital and MP Healthcare Venture Management, has provided significant investment to Genkyotex. Further information can be found at: www.genkyotex.com.


[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]