Inventiva announces two appointments to its management team ahead of future key development milestones
Marie-Paule Richard appointed as Chief Medical Officer and
David Nikodem as Vice President of US Operations
Daix (France), October 17, 2018 - Inventiva S.A. ("Inventiva" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), systemic sclerosis (SSc) and mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS), announces today the appointment of Dr Marie-Paule Richard, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Dr David Nikodem, Ph.D., as Vice President of US Operations in anticipation of the Company's next development milestones.
Dr Jean-Louis Abitbol, M.D., who has been Inventiva's CMO for the past three years and at the helm of the Company's medical development team, will retire at the end of April 2019. The arrival of Marie-Paule Richard as CMO today will ensure a smooth transition ahead of the coming key developments that are expected over the course of 2019 such as the presentation of top-line results from the Company's Phase IIb FASST (For A Systemic Sclerosis Treatment) trial in early 2019 and the results from the Phase IIa iMProveS (Improve MPS treatment) trial during the second-half of 2019. Dr Richard will bring to Inventiva her extensive experience in clinical development and regulatory strategy. Her successful experience in both filing and finalising approvals with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be a key asset for the Company given its anticipated interactions with these regulatory agencies.
Inventiva will also benefit from the appointment of David Nikodem who joined the Company as Vice President of US Operations in September. His deep industry knowledge and experience of the US markets from both a biopharmaceutical and financial perspective will be critical in reinforcing the Company's increasingly active presence in the United States. Dr Nikodem's international profile, experience and instrumental roles at Ally Bridge Group, Exane Asset Management and BNP Paribas amongst others will surely be valuable to the development of Inventiva.
To mark these movements, Frédéric Cren, Chairman, CEO and cofounder of Inventiva, stated: "We look forward to welcoming Marie-Paule and David to the Inventiva team. Their international profiles combined with their healthcare and financial expertise will be critical in the achievement of new milestones, starting with the presentation of top-line results from the SSc trial in early 2019. Marie-Paule and David will also serve a crucial role in helping to reinforce our expanding presence abroad. My team and I would like to thank Jean-Louis for his continued commitment and dedication to Inventiva over the past years. He has indeed been an important pillar in Inventiva's development and we already wish him all the best for his retirement next year."
"I am very pleased to be joining Inventiva during this pivotal time," added Marie-Paule Richard. "I believe that Inventiva's differentiated programs have real potential to address unmet medical needs and I am excited to be a contributing factor to the many developments that lie ahead of us."
David Nikodem commented: "This is an exciting time for Inventiva, particularly given the coming development milestones that are to take place both in France and abroad. I am honoured to be joining the team and look forward to help bring novel therapies to patients on a global scale."
Biographies
Dr Marie-Paule Richard, M.D.
Marie-Paule Richard is a seasoned medical leader who brings a long and diverse international experience acquired in senior executive positions for leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. She is particularly accredited in the field of clinical development strategy and regulatory affairs, having driven several drug approvals and international license agreements in both Europe and the United States.
Prior to joining Inventiva, Marie-Paule Richard acted as CMO of the Belgian biotech firm Tigenix from 2014, which was recently acquired by Takeda. Before this, she was the CMO of AiCuris GmbH from 2010 to 2012 in Germany and held several international management positions at Bristol Myers Squibb, Aventis Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur. Marie-Paule Richard holds a medical degree from the University of Nancy in France, and a certification in Clinical Immunology among other qualifications.
Dr David Nikodem, Ph.D.
David Nikodem has a wide experience of over 15 years across all healthcare subsectors, as a portfolio manager, analyst and risk manager in both public equities and public investments listed in the United States, France and Hong Kong. He is based in the United States, in Washington, D.C.
Prior to joining Inventiva, David Nikodem founded Sapidus Partners LLC in 2014, a US-based consulting group, where he has acted as a senior consultant for Ally Bridge Group for the past four years, with a focus on the biopharmaceutical sector, and at which he will continue his efforts in parallel with his new role at Inventiva. Previously, he worked as a Portfolio Manager for Exane Asset Management in Paris (2010-2013), as a Director and Portfolio Manager for BNP Paribas in New York (2005-2009), and as a Senior Healthcare Analyst for Blumberg Capital Management in New York (2002-2005). David Nikodem has also previous experience as a Patent Examiner at the USPTO and as a basic science researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Dr Nikodem holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Georgetown University and a double B.A. in Chemistry and in English Language and Literature from the University of Virginia.
About Inventiva: www.inventivapharma.com (http://www.inventivapharma.com)
Inventiva is a biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of product candidates interacting with nuclear receptors, transcription factors and epigenetic modulators. Inventiva's research engine has the potential to open up novel therapies against fibrotic diseases, cancers and orphan diseases with substantial unmet medical needs.
Lanifibranor, its lead product, is an anti-fibrotic treatment acting on the alpha, gamma and delta PPARs (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors), which play key roles in controlling the fibrotic process. Its anti-fibrotic action targets two initial indications with substantial unmet medical need: NASH, a severe and increasingly prevalent liver disease already affecting over 30 million people in the United States, and systemic sclerosis, a disease with a very high mortality rate and for which there is no approved treatment to date.
Inventiva is also developing a second clinical program with odiparcil (IVA 336) for the treatment of patients with mucopolysaccaridosis type VI (or Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome), a rare and severe gene disease affecting children. Odiparcil has also the potential to address other MPS types, characterized by the accumulation of chondroitin or dermatan sulfate (MPS I or Hurler/Sheie syndrome, MPS II or Hunter syndrome, MPS IVa or Morquio syndrome and MPS VII or Sly syndrome). Inventiva is also developing a portfolio of early research projects in the field of oncology.
Inventiva benefits from partnerships with world-leading research entities such as the Institut Curie in the field of oncology. Two strategic partnerships have also been established with world-class major pharmaceutical companies, AbbVie and Boehringer Ingelheim, in the fields of autoimmune diseases (specifically in psoriasis) and fibrosis respectively. These partnerships provide milestone payments to Inventiva upon the achievement of pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, in addition to royalties on the products resulting from the partnerships.
Inventiva employs over 100 employees and owns R&D facilities near Dijon, acquired from the international pharmaceutical group Abbott. The Company owns, a proprietary chemical library of over 240,000 molecules as well as integrated biology, chemistry, ADME and pharmacology platforms.
Contacts
| Inventiva Frédéric Cren Chairman & CEO info@inventivapharma.com (mailto:info@inventivapharma.com) +33 3 80 44 75 00 | Brunswick Julien Trosdorf / Yannick Tetzlaff Media relations inventiva@brunswickgroup.com (mailto:inventiva@brunswickgroup.com) +33 1 53 96 83 83 | LifeSci Advisors Monique Kosse Investor relations monique@lifesciadvisors.com (mailto:monique@lifesciadvisors.com) +1 212 915 3820 |
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Source: INVENTIVA via Globenewswire
