Belgium – [1st March 2018] – Syndesi Therapeutics today announced the appointment of an experienced management team to lead the development of its portfolio of novel modulators of the synaptic vesicle protein, SV2A, for the treatment of cognitive disorders.
Dr John Kemp joins the company as Chief Scientific Officer. John was most recently Senior Director, Neuroscience Discovery at Janssen and brings 30 years of experience in CNS drug discovery and development to Syndesi. He previously held positions as Chief R&D Officer at Evotec and head of CNS research at Roche. John commented “I am delighted to join the company which has a focus on a very promising novel mechanism for the treatment of cognitive disorders”.
Dr Charlotte Videbaek joins Syndesi as Chief Medical Officer. Charlotte is a board certified neurologist and has over 15 years pharma industry experience in CNS clinical development and project management. She has held senior development positions at Lundbeck and has prior experience from Roche and Novartis. Charlotte noted “I look forward to working with the team to move this novel mechanism into clinical development and explore the full potential benefit for patients”.
Dr Andrea Cesura joins Syndesi as Head of Preclinical Development. Andrea is a pharmacologist and neuroscientist with 30 years experience in CNS research, drug discovery and development. Andrea contributed to several NCEs which entered clinical development, including two drugs reaching Phase 2/3 in Alzheimer’s disease.
“I am delighted John, Charlotte and Andrea are joining Syndesi, as they bring a wealth of scientific expertise and drug development experience. I look forward to working with them, our stakeholders and partners to move our lead molecule, SDI-118, into clinical development and further investigate the promise of our pro-cognitive SV2A modulators” said Jonathan Savidge, CEO.
About Syndesi Therapeutics
Syndesi Therapeutics was established in 2017 based on an exclusive, worldwide license from UCB to develop and commercialise a series of novel, procognitive SV2A modulators. Syndesi will build on a rich legacy of work by UCB to further develop these novel SV2A modulators and investigate their potential to improve cognition in diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, other dementias and cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia. Syndesi announced a Series A financing round of €17M in February 2018, led by Novo Seeds and Fountain Healthcare with participation from JJDC, SRIW (Société Régionale d’Investissement de Wallonie), V-Bio Ventures and Vives Fund. Syndesi has been established at the Centre d’Entreprises et d’Innovation (CEI) in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium and has a presence at the JLABS incubator facilities to access expertise at the Janssen campus in Beerse, Belgium. For more information please visit www.syndesitherapeutics.com