PureTech's resTORbio Adds Paul Fonteyne to Board

RNS Number : 8961Y

PureTech Health PLC

11 December 2017

 

11 December 2017

PureTech Health plc

PureTech Health Affiliate resTORbio Adds Paul Fonteyne, CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA, to Board of Directors

PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC), an advanced, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is pleased to note that resTORbio, an affiliate of PureTech Health, today announced that Paul Fonteyne, President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA, has joined the resTORbio board of directors as an independent director. Mr. Fonteyne brings commercial, marketing and general management experience and strategic perspective to the Board. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Fonteyne served as Senior Corporate Vice President, Prescription Medicines Marketing at Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH. From 2003 to 2008 he served as Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing and Sales, Prescription Medicines at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. Prior to his work at Boehringer Ingelheim, Mr. Fonteyne served as Vice President, Sales and as Vice President, Marketing at Merck & Co., Inc. and prior to Merck served in different leadership roles with Abbott Laboratories, Inc.    

The full text of the announcement from resTORbio is as follows:

resTORbio Appoints Paul Fonteyne to Its Board of Directors

BOSTON, Massachusetts, December 11, 2017 - resTORbio, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for the treatment of aging-related diseases, today announced that Paul Fonteyne, President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA, has joined the resTORbio board of directors as an independent director.

"I am honoured to welcome Paul Fonteyne to our Board," said Chen Schor, President and CEO of resTORbio. "Paul is an extremely accomplished leader and life sciences executive, having led the commercialization efforts of multiple respiratory and cardiovascular drugs. Paul's commercial and general management experience, along with his strategic perspective, will be instrumental as we advance RTB101, our selective inhibitor of target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1), for the initial indication of reducing the incidence of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in the elderly and potentially for additional aging-related diseases."

Paul Fonteyne said: "resTORbio's first-in-class immunotherapy program is designed to improve immune function and thereby reduce the incidence of RTIs in the elderly, regardless of the causative pathogen. I look forward to working with the resTORbio team and helping to build a leading biopharmaceutical company addressing both the high unmet need of RTIs in the elderly as well as additional aging-related diseases and conditions."

Mr. Fonteyne is President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA and a board member of the PhRMA Industry Association. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Fonteyne served as Senior Corporate Vice President, Prescription Medicines Marketing at Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH. From 2003 to 2008 he served as Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing and Sales, Prescription Medicines at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. Prior to his work at Boehringer Ingelheim, Mr. Fonteyne served as Vice President, Sales and as Vice President, Marketing at Merck & Co., Inc. and prior to Merck served in different leadership roles with Abbott Laboratories, Inc. 

About Respiratory Tract Infections in the Elderly

The reduced ability of elderly patients to detect and fight infections is most commonly manifested in their susceptibility to RTIs and the negative effects such infections have on their overall health. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, RTIs are the fifth leading cause of death in people age 85 and over and the seventh leading cause of death in people age 65 and over. RTIs also result in high healthcare costs for the elderly population and burden the healthcare system. The majority of RTIs are caused by viruses for which there are no FDA-approved therapies. As the elderly represent the fastest growing population in the world, there is significant unmet medical need for innovative therapeutic options to reduce the incidence of RTIs by enhancing the function of the aging immune system.

About TORC1

Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a protein serine/threonine kinase that regulates the process of aging and aging-related diseases and conditions, via two complexes: TORC1 and TORC2. TORC1 inhibition has been found to have many beneficial effects on aging-related diseases and conditions, while TORC2 inhibition has been associated with adverse events including hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia. The TORC1 inhibitor programme being developed by resTORbio may, therefore, have therapeutic potential to ameliorate multiple aging-related diseases without the undesirable side effects associated with TORC2 inhibition.

About resTORbio

resTORbio, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of novel therapeutics for the treatment of aging-related diseases. resTORbio's lead programme is targeting the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) pathway to treat aging-related diseases and conditions with an initial focus on conditions caused by immunosenescence, the decline in immune function that occurs during aging. resTORbio's lead product candidate, RTB101, alone or in combination with everolimus, is in a Phase 2b clinical trial to evaluate its potential in reducing the incidence of respiratory tract infections (RTI) in elderly subjects at increased risk of RTI-related morbidity and mortality. resTORbio's lead programme is supported by two Phase 2a clinical studies from which promising safety and efficacy signals were observed in almost 500 elderly subjects. resTORbio is pursuing a pragmatic clinical development plan to address areas of key unmet medical need in the aging population. For more information, please visit www.restorbio.com. resTORbio is an affiliate of PureTech Health.

About PureTech Health

PureTech Health (PureTech Health plc, PRTC.L) is an advanced, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines targeting serious diseases that result from dysfunctions in the nervous, immune, and gastrointestinal systems (brain-immune-gut or the "BIG" axis), which together represent the adaptive human systems. PureTech Health is at the forefront of understanding and addressing the biological processes and crosstalk associated with the BIG axis. By harnessing this emerging field of human biology, the Company is pioneering new categories of medicine with the potential to have great impact on people with serious diseases. PureTech Health is advancing a rich pipeline of innovative therapies that includes two pivotal stage programmes, multiple human proof-of-concept studies and a number of early clinical and pre-clinical programmes. PureTech's rich research and development pipeline has been advanced in collaboration with some of the world's leading scientific experts, who along with PureTech's team of biopharma pioneers, entrepreneurs and seasoned Board, identify, invent, and clinically de-risk new medicines. With this experienced team pursuing cutting edge science, PureTech Health is building the biopharma company of the future focused on improving and extending the lives of people with serious disease. For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on Twitter @puretechh.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to PureTech's future prospects, developments and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, neither PureTech Health nor any other party intends to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact:

	PureTech Health	FTI Consulting
	Allison Mead Talbot [phone] [e-mail]	Ben Atwell, Rob Winder [phone]

 

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