Oryzon announces appointment of Dr. Torsten Hoffmann as Global R&D Director and retirement of Dr. Tamara Maes
MADRID, SPAIN and CAMBRIDGE, MA, UNITED STATES, November 2nd, 2020 - Oryzon Genomics, S.A. (ISIN Code: ES0167733015, ORY), a public clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging epigenetics to develop therapies in diseases with strong unmet medical need, announced today that Dr. Tamara Maes will be retiring as a Chief Scientific Officer at Oryzon in 2020. The highly experienced Dr. Torsten Hoffmann, who has spent more than 23 years in pharmaceutical research and development including senior roles at Roche and Danish biotech Zealand Pharma, is appointed as Oryzon’s new CSO to lead all R&D efforts of the company, effective November 2nd.
Dr. Maes will personally lead the transition for the next 90 days and will continue as VP of the Board of Directors of Oryzon and as President of its Scientific Advisory Board. The Company’s clinical development strategy continues unchanged.
“I would like to welcome Torsten Hoffmann to Oryzon, and to thank Tamara Maes on behalf of Oryzon and our Board of Directors for her dedication and invaluable contributions to the company. Tamara has been instrumental in discovering and developing novel epigenetic medicines for the treatment of cancer and CNS diseases, two of which are now in Phase II clinical trials. With his exceptional industry experience, Torsten Hoffmann is now the ideal candidate to take over this new global R&D Director role and drive the next stage of Oryzon’s development, together with the strong scientific team that Tamara has established” said Carlos Buesa, Chairman and CEO of Oryzon.
At Roche, Dr. Hoffmann was Head of Discovery Chemistry and Head of the Roche Postdoc Fellowship Program. Subsequently he served as Chief Scientific Officer and Executive VP at Zealand Pharma, Chief Scientific Officer of British Silence Therapeutics and most recently SVP Drug Discovery at Taros Chemicals in Germany. Dr. Hoffmann invented Netupitant, approved in the U.S. as Akynzeo® for chemotherapyinduced nausea and vomiting, and has held several Scientific Advisory Board member roles in the European biotechnology industry.
“I am proud to be asked to become CSO of Oryzon, a truly exciting company which is leading the way in developing a new form of treatments with the potential to make a significant difference to patients. Oryzon’s assets are at an important stage in development, approaching late-stage clinical trials, and I am looking forward to working with the talented team to bring these products towards partnering and market”, said Dr. Hoffmann.
“I am grateful for my time as CSO at Oryzon and proud of what we have been able to accomplish over time”, said Dr. Maes. “With a streamlined and focused team, we have fueled a pipeline of early stage programs and generated epigenetic medicines that have advanced into mid-stage clinical development. Several additional discovery programs are nearing the stage of nomination of candidate for development. The company is gradually navigating towards market authorization. I believe that Dr Hoffmann, with his extensive knowledge of late-stage drug development, has the perfect credentials to steer Oryzon through this exciting next phase in its development.”
About Oryzon
Founded in 2000 in Barcelona, Spain, Oryzon (ISIN Code: ES0167733015) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company considered as the European champion in Epigenetics. Oryzon has one of the strongest portfolios in the field. Oryzon’s LSD1 program has rendered two compounds, vafidemstat and iadademstat, in clinical trials. In addition, Oryzon has ongoing programs for developing inhibitors against other epigenetic targets. Oryzon has a strong technological platform for biomarker identification and performs biomarker and target validation for a variety of malignant and neurological diseases. Oryzon has offices in Spain and the United States. For more information, visit www.oryzon.com
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
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