Coya Therapeutics ("Coya") Appoints Industry and Drug Development Veteran, Dr. Fred Grossman, to President and Chief Medical Officer succeeding Dr. Adrian Hepner
- Dr. Grossman brings over 20 years of drug development expertise having held senior executive leadership positions in large and small pharmaceutical companies leading the development and FDA approval of numerous multi-billion dollar blockbuster drugs addressing significant unmet medical needs particularly across CNS disorders.
- Dr. Grossman held executive positions at Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Sunovion. He served as President and Chief Medical Officer at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (BSE: 532296) as well as Chief Medical Officer at Mesoblast, Inc. (NASDAQ:MESO).
- Dr. Grossman is Board-Certified in Psychiatry and a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and was a Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has held several academic appointments and authored numerous scientific publications.
- Dr. Grossman will succeed Dr. Hepner, who is transitioning his position due to personal reasons, but will remain committed to Coya as Clinical and Strategic Advisor.
Coya Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:COYA) ("Coya" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing biologics intended to enhance Treg function, today announced the appointment of Dr. Fred Grossman to its senior management team as President and Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Grossman will succeed Dr. Adrian Hepner in this role, effective July 17th, 2023, and will leverage his over two decades of clinical development expertise to guide and oversee all of Coya's development programs, including its lead asset, COYA 302, for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Prior to joining Coya, Dr. Grossman held executive positions at Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Sunovion. He also served as President and Chief Medical Officer at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, (BSE: 532296), a $1.5 Billion per annum global pharmaceutical company based in India, overseeing development of the entire pipeline including generics, complex generics including 505(b)(2) candidates, and next-generation biologics (including bi-specific antibodies). He also previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Mesoblast, Inc. (NASDAQ:MESO), developing allogeneic cellular therapies for inflammatory diseases.
"We are grateful for Dr. Hepner's leadership and excellence in positioning Coya and look forward to having him continue to collaborate with the Company in moving our assets forward. We also welcome Dr. Grossman, who brings decades of clinical development experience and successful execution," stated Howard H. Berman, Ph.D., CEO of Coya Therapeutics.
"Leading Coya's development programs was a great honor. I am proud of all the accomplishments we've made to date, and I continue to be excited and very optimistic about the future of the Company. This transition due to personal reasons gives me a fantastic opportunity to continue supporting Coya's strategy and its development programs with the ultimate goal of delivering innovative, safe and effective treatments to patients," Dr. Hepner said.
Dr. Grossman commented: "I look forward to building upon the achievements of Dr. Hepner and the Team and contributing towards advancing the development of Coya's very innovative multi-modal Treg pipeline addressing areas of significant unmet medical needs across neurodegenerative and autoimmune disorders."
About Coya Therapeutics, Inc.
Headquartered in Houston, TX, Coya Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:COYA) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing proprietary treatments focused on the biology and potential therapeutic advantages of regulatory T cells ("Tregs") to target systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation. Dysfunctional Tregs underlie numerous conditions including neurodegenerative, metabolic, and autoimmune diseases, and this cellular dysfunction may lead to a sustained inflammation and oxidative stress resulting in lack of homeostasis of the immune system. Coya's investigational product candidate pipeline leverages multiple therapeutic modalities aimed at restoring the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory functions of Tregs. Coya's lead therapeutic programs includes Treg-enhancing biologics (COYA 300 Series product candidates) COYA 301 and COYA 302, which are intended to enhance Treg function and expand Treg numbers. COYA 301 is a cytokine biologic for subcutaneous administration intended to enhance Treg function and expand Treg numbers in vivo, and COYA 302 is a biologic combination for subcutaneous and/or intravenous administration intended to enhance Treg function while depleting T effector function and activated macrophages. These two mechanisms may be additive or synergistic in suppressing inflammation. For more information about Coya, please visit www.coyatherapeutics.com
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