Seres Health Appoints Former Merck Senior Executive, Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D., F.A.C.P., as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Seres Health, a clinical-stage therapeutics company developing novel products to treat a host of disease conditions based on scientific findings related to the human microbiome, announced today that it has appointed Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D., F.A.C.P. as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Pomerantz will also remain as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Seres, where he has served since November of 2013. Dr. Pomerantz brings valuable drug discovery and development experience to Seres, having previously led the development of eight approved infectious disease drugs in important indications including HIV, HCV, and tuberculosis.

"Through his extensive biotech and pharma leadership experience and unparalleled track record in drug development, Roger is the ideal leader for Seres Health," said Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Co-founder and Board Member of Seres and Managing Partner and CEO of Flagship Ventures. "With our lead product currently in clinical testing for the treatment of recurrent C. difficile, and a rapidly growing pipeline, Roger's expertise is ideally suited to provide the leadership that can execute on Seres' pioneering vision." 

"I am thrilled to be leading Seres," said Dr. Pomerantz. "The company's revolutionary Ecobiotic® therapeutic products offer the unmatched potential to treat microbiome diseases at their core. Many opportunities exist for developing a wide array of therapeutics to address important medical conditions and Seres is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these opportunities by leveraging its proprietary Microbiome Therapeutics™ platform."

"Roger is a true asset to Seres and will continue to propel the company to its next stage of growth," said Dr. David Berry, founding CEO and Board Member of Seres and Partner at Flagship Ventures. "Roger's contributions will accelerate the company's progress on its path towards commercialization."

Dr. Pomerantz was most recently Senior Vice President and Worldwide Head of Licensing & Acquisitions at Merck & Co., Inc. where he oversaw all licensing and acquisitions at Merck Research Laboratories, including external research, out-licensing regional deals and academic alliances. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and Global Franchise Head of Infectious Diseases at Merck. Prior to joining Merck, Roger was Global Head of Infectious Diseases for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals, responsible for all anti-infective agents worldwide. He joined Johnson & Johnson in 2005 as President of Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Roger received his B.A. in Biochemistry at the Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency training, and his subspecialty clinical and research training in Infectious Diseases and Virology at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and served as the Chief Medical Resident at MGH. His post-doctoral research training in Molecular Retrovirology was obtained at both the Harvard Medical School and the Whitehead Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate, Dr. David Baltimore. Subsequently, Roger was Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Chief of Infectious Diseases, and the Founding Director and Chair of the Institute for Human Virology and Biodefense at the Thomas Jefferson University and Medical School in Philadelphia, PA.

About Seres Health
Launched in 2012, Seres Health is a clinical-stage company focused on discovering and developing Ecobiotic® therapeutic products, novel drugs to treat important diseases by targeting the underlying biology of the human microbiome.  Founded by Flagship VentureLabs^TM, Seres is pioneering the first therapeutics that catalyze a shift to health by augmenting the biology of the microbiome.  Current candidates span infectious, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases.  For more information, please visit www.sereshealth.com.

Contact: 
For Seres Health:  Emily Rossi
Ruder Finn
212.593.6431
[email protected] 

SOURCE Seres Health

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