Asceneuron Appoints Prominent Healthcare Leader Catherine Moukheibir to its Board of Directors

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Jul 16, 2021, 03:30 ET

Underscores company's ambition to deliver on the unmet needs of patients living with neurodegenerative diseases

LAUSANNE, Switzerland and SAN FRANCISCO, July 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Asceneuron SA, a clinical stage company dedicated to targeting the root cause of neurodegenerative diseases, announced today the appointment of Catherine Moukheibir to its Board of Directors.

Catherine is a highly respected healthcare executive with extensive experience over the last 30 years of leadership in finance, capital markets and life sciences. She has previously worked as a Chairman, Non-Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors, successfully raising private and public capital as well as overseeing several major licensing deals and acquisitions.

Catherine currently serves on the Board of Directors at Biotalys, CMR Surgical, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc and Orphazyme A/S. Most recently, Catherine was the chair and CEO of MedDay Pharmaceuticals. She has held various other senior executive roles (Innate Pharma) and board memberships in companies such as Kymab, Ablynx, Genkyotex, Zealand Pharma and Creabilis. Earlier, she was the CFO of Movetis, overseeing the company's IPO on Euronext and subsequent sale to Shire. Catherine started her career in investment banking and capital markets and worked in this industry for several years in the US and London, switching to corporate roles in life sciences 20 years ago. She holds an MBA and a Masters in Economics from Yale University.

Peter Van Vlasselaer, Chairman of the Board of Asceneuron, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Catherine, a seasoned and highly respected industry leader, to the Board of Directors. Her corporate expertise and financial track record underscores our ambition and focus to deliver on the unmet needs of patients living with neurodegenerative diseases."

Catherine Moukheibir, Board of Directors of Asceneuron, commented: "Asceneuron is pioneering a new way of approaching neurodegenerative diseases and is developing a clinical pipeline of novel compounds which have the potential to be the basis for highly innovative treatments for a broad range of CNS diseases. I am pleased to be joining such an ambitious player in a field that has so much to offer to patients."

Dirk Beher, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Asceneuron, commented: "We are very pleased to have Catherine join Asceneuron at this particular stage of the company, given her extensive experience within the biotech industry. I look forward to shaping the growth of Asceneuron with Catherine's valued insights and guidance as our two lead programs progress through clinical development."

About Asceneuron

Asceneuron is a clinical stage biotech company focused on the development of orally bioavailable therapeutics for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders with high unmet medical need. The pipeline reflects our ambition to develop treatments for a wide a range of neurodegenerative diseases including orphan tauopathies, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Asceneuron has two clinical stage small molecule O-GlcNAcase inhibitors in development for the treatment of proteinopathies including Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Asceneuron is a privately held company financed by a renowned syndicate of investors consisting of Sofinnova Partners, M Ventures, SR One, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) and Kurma Partners. For more information, please visit www.asceneuron.com.