Company Also Names Head of Biology; Expanded Team to Lead IND-Enabling Activities for Aileron’s Stapled Peptides
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aileron Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that has defined a new class of drugs called Stapled Peptides, today announced the appointments of Anthony M. Manning, Ph.D., to senior vice president of research and preclinical development and Yong S. Chang, Ph.D., to head of biology. These strategic appointments come as Aileron continues to advance several drug development programs utilizing its Stapled Peptide™ technology.
“With his deep biology and pharmacology experience, Tony is an important addition to the Aileron team that is focused on strategically advancing drugs from our diverse pipeline and world-class chemistry platform,” said Joseph A. Yanchik III, president and chief executive officer of Aileron Therapeutics. “In particular, having overseen the advancement of nearly a dozen investigational new drugs in his career, Tony brings an impressive track record to Aileron as we advance our novel Stapled Peptides into IND-enabling and then clinical studies. We are delighted to welcome both Tony and Yong to the team and look forward to leveraging their vast experience as we move from a preclinical stage company toward a clinical stage company.”
Dr. Manning brings to Aileron more than 19 years of industry experience in advancing large portfolios of drug discovery projects and multiple therapeutic candidates through preclinical and clinical development. Most recently, Dr. Manning served as vice president and head of inflammation and autoimmune diseases research at Biogen Idec, where he led the company’s immunology and inflammation research efforts, including target selection, drug discovery, biomarker identification and research support for clinical programs and marketed products. He also held other senior level R&D positions within the company, including head of PML research, a role that was critical to the advancement of Tysabri® (natalizumab). Prior to joining Biogen Idec, Dr. Manning was vice president and global head of inflammation, autoimmunity and transplantation research at Roche, and prior to that held senior-level drug discovery and research positions at Pharmacia and Signal Pharmaceuticals, now the research division of Celgene Corp. Dr. Manning received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Otago in New Zealand and completed postdoctoral research as an NIH Fogarty International Center Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, where he later held an assistant professorship. He is an author of more than 95 publications and currently serves as an editor for Current Opinions in Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Drugs.
“Aileron is uniquely poised to advance the science of peptide therapeutics into entirely new terrain with its Stapled Peptides,” said Dr. Manning. “The work the company has done to date and the drug-like profiles we see emerging for these compounds are very promising. I am delighted to join the team and look forward to realizing our goal of bringing this new therapeutic modality to patients.”
Dr. Chang joins Aileron from MedImmune, Inc. where he was the head of translational pharmacology. As one of the senior members of the Global Oncology Leadership Team and research review committee, Dr. Chang played an instrumental role in formulating strategy and direction for the departments of Oncology and Translational Sciences. He also led multiple translational and product development teams. Prior to MedImmune, he worked with Bayer Pharmaceuticals, where he held positions with increasing responsibilities and contributed to the launch of Nexavar® (sorafenib). Prior to Bayer, Dr. Chang worked at Roche Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Chang received a B.S. in premedicine and biology and a Ph.D. in physiology from Pennsylvania State University, and was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital.
About Aileron Therapeutics
Aileron Therapeutics has defined a new class of drugs called Stapled Peptides. The company’s proprietary Stapled Peptides platform is a breakthrough approach to creating drugs for highly sought after biological targets using its novel peptide stabilizing technologies. Aileron’s Stapled Peptides have demonstrated their unique ability to penetrate cells throughout the body and modulate intracellular and extracellular protein-protein interactions, critical control points for most human diseases. With the support of leading venture capital firms and pharmaceutical venture investors, as well as a collaboration with Roche, Aileron is developing a portfolio of Stapled Peptide drugs for the treatment of cancer, infectious disease, metabolic disease and immune/inflammatory diseases. For more information, please visit www.aileronrx.com.
CONTACT:
Pure Communications, Inc.
Dan Budwick, 973-271-6085
KEYWORDS: United States North America Massachusetts
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Biotechnology Pharmaceutical
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