Dr Claude Nicaise joins Minoryx Therapeutics as independent board member

Mataró, Barcelona Spain, February 8, 2017 – Minoryx Therapeutics, a drug development company specialized in the discovery of new drugs for orphan diseases, today announces that Dr Claude Nicaise has joined its board of directors as an independent member.

Dr Nicaise has over 30 years’ experience in developing worldwide regulatory strategy in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He is the owner of Clinical Regulatory Services, a company providing advice on clinical and regulatory matters to biotechnology companies.

Currently, Dr. Nicaise is a board member at Sarepta Therapeutics. Between 2008 and 2014 he was senior vice president of strategic development and global regulatory affairs at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. From 1983 to 2008, he worked in various positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, including vice president of global development, vice president worldwide regulatory science and strategy, as well as leadership positions in the oncology, infectious diseases and neuroscience departments. Dr Nicaise received his medical degree in 1976 from the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium.

Dr Nicaise has authored over a hundred papers and abstracts. He is member of a number of professional societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research, the European Society for Medical Oncology, the American Society for Microbiology and the American Society of Hematology.

“We are delighted to have Dr Nicaise join us as an independent board member,” said Khalid Islam, chairman of the board at Minoryx Therapeutics. “Claude’s perspective, based on his distinguished career and leadership roles in R&D organisations, will be very valuable to the board as the company continues its on-going evolution.”

“Dr Nicaise’s wealth of experience in regulatory strategy and clinical drug development makes him a key addition to our team,” added Marc Martinell, CEO of Minoryx Therapeutics.

“It is a pleasure for me to join the board of Minoryx Therapeutics. It is an exciting time with the recent progress of the company’s lead product MIN-102. I look forward to working closely with the board and management to advance this product through the clinical development stages,” said Dr Nicaise.

Minoryx Therapeutics’ lead candidate, MIN-102, targets the most prevalent peroxisomal disorder, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD), a rare and chronically debilitating life threatening neurodegenerative disease, currently with no available treatment. MIN-102 is a differentiated PPAR gamma agonist with a superior profile for central nervous system related diseases and excellent in-vivo efficacy. It has shown robust preclinical proof of concept in multiple animal models. Phase I studies were initiated based on these results. A phase II/III trial in adult AMN patients will be launched during the first half of 2017.

About Minoryx Therapeutics    

Minoryx is a clinical stage biotech company leading the development of new therapies for X-ALD and other inborn errors of metabolism, a group of rare diseases of genetic origin with a high unmet medical need. The company’s lead program, now in phase I clinical trials, is a differentiated PPAR gamma agonist (MIN-102) that has potential in multiple CNS indications. MIN-102 has a unique mechanism of action for X-ALD, a genetic disease characterized by progressive neurologic deterioration with no available pharmacological treatment. Minoryx is also working on a new class of compounds; non-competitive pharmacological chaperones, identified through its innovative proprietary platform – SEE-Tx. The Minoryx team is made up of a group of drug discovery and development experts with several decades of experience in biotech and pharma. The company is backed by a syndicate of experienced investors and has support from a network of other organizations. Minoryx was founded in 2011 and has raised a total of €24.4M.

www.minoryx.com