Alkahest Strengthens Management Team with Addition of César Cerezo as Chief Medical Officer
SAN CARLOS, Calif., July 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alkahest, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing transformative therapies to treat age-related diseases and a subsidiary of Grifols, today announced the appointment of Dr. César Cerezo M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer. He will be responsible for leading and providing strategic direction to the clinical development and medical teams.
"Dr. Cerezo brings to Alkahest robust and broad experience both as a practicing and research physician, and as an experienced pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry leader. Having played a significant role in the advancement of multiple clinical development programs across different therapeutic areas at esteemed companies such as Amgen and Pfizer, we are confident that César will provide invaluable leadership and strategic insight to the continued development of Alkahest's exciting portfolio of clinical candidates for age-related disease," said Karoly Nikolich, Ph.D., chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Alkahest. "We warmly welcome Dr. Cerezo to Alkahest as the chief medical officer and look forward to the clinical progress that his oversight and strategic acumen will bring to our team."
César Cerezo, chief medical officer of Alkahest, added: "I am pleased to join this passionate and innovative team during such an exciting time for its clinical pipeline, as the Company initiates and completes additional clinical programs to support its unique approach to treating disease. Through the development of a promising new class therapeutics focused on targeting the plasma proteome, Alkahest has established itself as leader in reimagining the way we treat age-related disease, and I am eager to begin working with the Alkahest team to propel clinical growth and strategy."
Prior to joining Alkahest, Dr. Cerezo served as Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head of Global Medical Affairs General Medicine at Amgen, in which he led the global and U.S. medical organizations across Amgen's Cardiovascular/Metabolic, Bone, Nephrology, Neuroscience, Inflammation and Biosimilars divisions, overseeing strategies and execution of Medical plans for over 20 in-line and pipeline programs. Prior to this position, Dr. Cerezo held multiple leadership roles, including U.S. and Global Medical Lead of the Repatha program and additional cardio-metabolic portfolio programs at various stages of the development lifecycle. Prior to his time at Amgen, Dr. Cerezo held numerous roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, where he was the Senior Director of Global Medical Affairs for the Bococizumab program before becoming Global Medical Team Leader for Eliquis.
Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Cerezo was in clinical practice for over 15 years in different internal medicine units. In his last seven years he was a member of a specialized cardiovascular and renal unit, in which he served as a researcher and a practitioner, publishing and lecturing in multiple scientific relevant journals and forums. He also worked as a professor in clinical pharmacology, semiology, and epidemiology at European University in Madrid.
César earned his M.D. in Medicine and Surgery from Complutense University in Madrid, Spain in 1998 and completed a residency in Family and Community medicine in 2002. He received his Ph.D. in cardiovascular disease from Autonoma University in Madrid in 2012, where his thesis focused on chronic renin-angiotensin system suppression effect on the albumin urinary excretion in patients with arterial hypertension. César also holds a specialist degree in vascular risk prevention from Complutense University in Madrid.
For more information, please visit www.grifols.com or www.alkahest.com.
About Grifols
Grifols is a global healthcare company founded in Barcelona in 1909 committed to improving the health and well-being of people around the world. Its four divisions – Bioscience, Diagnostic, Hospital and Bio Supplies – develop, produce and market innovative solutions and services that are sold in more than 100 countries.
Pioneers in the plasma industry, Grifols operates a growing network of donation centers worldwide. It transforms collected plasma into essential medicines to treat chronic, rare and, at times, life-threatening conditions. As a recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Grifols also offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to enhance safety from donation to transfusion. In addition, the company supplies tools, information and services that enable hospitals, pharmacies and healthcare professionals to efficiently deliver expert medical care.
Grifols, with nearly 24,000 employees in 30 countries and regions, is committed to a sustainable business model that sets the standard for continuous innovation, quality, safety and ethical leadership.
In 2020, Grifols' economic impact in its core countries of operation was EUR 7.5 billion. The company also generated 140,000 jobs, including indirect and induced.
The company's class A shares are listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange, where they are part of the Ibex-35 (MCE:GRF). Grifols non-voting class B shares are listed on the Mercado Continuo (MCE:GRF.P) and on the U.S. NASDAQ through ADRs (NASDAQ:GRFS).
Alkahest is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing treatments for neurodegenerative and age-related diseases with transformative therapies targeting the aging plasma proteome. The Alkahest pipeline includes multiple therapeutic candidates ranging from selected plasma fractions to protein-targeted interventions which aim to slow the detrimental biological processes of aging.
For more information, please visit www.grifols.com or www.alkahest.com.
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