TxCell appoints Damian Marron Chief Executive Officer
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In addition, Francois Meyer, previously CEO, has been appointed Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.
One of the main initial tasks for Damian Marron as CEO will be to guide the development of Ovasave(R), TxCell’s lead autologous Ag-Treg cell-based immunotherapy. Ovasave is currently in phase II development for the treatment of Crohn’s disease in patients who are refractory to current treatments. There are currently 160,000 such patients per year in Europe and in the US alone*.
TxCell’s strategy is to target niche and orphan indications for which there are few or no treatment options and a high unmet medical need. The company’s strong proprietary technology platform has so far demonstrated great promise in a number of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. Positive preliminary results for these indications have already been generated.
“At this stage of TxCell’s development, it has been critical for us to appoint a CEO who has both a high level of experience at working in niche and orphan market places with unmet medical needs, as well as for both private and public companies,” said Francois Meyer, Executive Chairman of the TxCell Board. “As a result, the Board members and I feel that Damian’s 26 years’ biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience will make him invaluable to TxCell’s medium and long term development. Damian’s proven management skills allied to his range of experience including financing, corporate development, product and technology licensing, research and development and sales and marketing will be instrumental for our strategy of building a leading cell therapy company with innovative personalized treatments for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.”
“TxCell has made great steps under the leadership of Francois Meyer in turning its cutting edge technology into a viable and recognized business model,” said Damian Marron. “I am delighted to combine my niche and orphan marketplace and biotechnology company management experience with that of the TxCell team, board and Francois to ensure that TxCell’s innovative approach will be brought to patients with serious conditions who have few or no therapeutic options.”
Damian Marron is a highly capable executive with 26 years strong experience in the orphan disease marketplace. Previously, he was CEO of Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on immunology through the development of IL-7 based therapeutics.
Prior to Cytheris, Damian was CEO of Trophos SA from 2008 to 2012. Under his tenure, Trophos spearheaded a group of major EU funded consortia of leading global experts and specialists working on a range of orphan diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He has also pushed through a Phase III trial for ALS and played a critical part in attracting EUR 34 million in funding. Damian was also instrumental in establishing and executing on a strategy that included an innovative exclusive option acquisition agreement with Actelion, worth an initial EUR 10 million and subject to milestones worth up to EUR 195 million.
Damian has also been Executive Vice President Corporate Development at NicOx SA. During that period, he was responsible for the establishment of major collaborations with Merck and Co. Inc. and Pfizer Inc. He also participated in financing rounds for NicOx, raising in excess of EUR 175 million.
