- Jane Rhodes appointed as
Chief Executive Officer
- Magnus Ivarsson appointed as
Chief Translation and Early Development Officer
LONDON, Oct. 1, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- AstronauTx Ltd ('AstronauTx'), a biotechnology
company developing novel treatments for Alzheimer's disease and
other neurodegenerative disorders, today announces the appointment
of Dr Jane Rhodes, Ph.D., MBA, as
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and member of the Board, and
Magnus Ivarsson as Chief Translation
and Early Development Officer.
Jane is an accomplished leader with 25 years of experience in
the biotech industry. She was previously President and Chief
Business Officer at Verge Genomics, and has held a variety of
operational leadership roles in R&D, Corporate Strategy,
Innovation and Business Development, at Biogen and Forma
Therapeutics.
A neuroscientist by training, Jane began her career in the field
of discovery research and worked on novel therapies for Alzheimer's
disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),
stroke and multiple sclerosis (MS). She has contributed to the
development and launch of several marketed products for
neurological indications over the span of her career.
She co-founded Qr8 Health, a digital health company, and
currently serves as Chair of the Board of Pheno Therapeutics and as
a Non-Executive Director at Turbine AI. Jane holds an undergraduate
degree in Pharmacology and Physiology, and has a Ph.D. in
Neurophysiology, both from the University of Manchester, and a Masters in Business
Administration from the Babson College
F.W. Olin School of Business.
Tim Edwards, Chairman of the
Board, AstronauTx, said: "Jane has a strong track
record of company formation, successful equity financing and
forging large enabling Pharma partnerships, all of which will be
invaluable in our next phase of growth. We look forward to
working alongside her, with Magnus and the rest of the Leadership
team, as AstronauTx progresses its pre-clinical programmes. I would
like to thank Ruth McKernan and
David Reynolds for the tremendous
contribution they have made to creating the Company and setting us
on this exciting development pathway."
Todd Foley, AstronauTx Board
Member and Managing Director at MPM BioImpact,
added: "Both Jane and Magnus have strong backgrounds in
biotech and a deep understanding of neuroscience drug development.
We look forward to Jane leading the AstronauTx team to deliver oral
drugs that are expected to provide much needed symptomatic and
disease modifying benefits to patients."
Jane Rhodes, Chief Executive
Officer, AstronauTx commented: "The AstronauTx team
have built an exciting early-stage portfolio targeting unique and
orthogonal approaches to neurodegenerative disease. The Company is
backed by a strong syndicate of investors and is poised for growth.
I am thrilled to be joining the team to advance new therapies with
such huge potential benefit to the aging population, and to be
bringing Magnus on board with his uniquely relevant expertise, as
we advance several programs into the clinic."
Magnus is a seasoned drug developer with more than 20 years of
experience in the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.
He has held a range of senior research leadership roles, with
responsibilities ranging from early discovery, translation and
early clinical development for both small molecules and biologics
with a focus on sleep, EEG and neurodegeneration.
Magnus's career includes more than a decade at large
pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Merck and AstraZeneca. Over the
last 10+ years, he has held senior leadership positions at multiple
successful biotechnology companies in Boston, including Aliada Therapeutics,
Vesalius Therapeutics, Alkermes Plc, Rodin Therapeutics and
Proteostasis Therapeutics. In these roles, Magnus has
been pivotal in advancing both small molecules and biologics into
the clinic, and he played a key role in the acquisition of Rodin by
Alkermes in 2019.
He has been an honorary associate professor at University of Melbourne, Australia, a research
fellow at University College London,
UK, and earned his Ph.D. from Lund University in Sweden.
About AstronauTx Ltd
AstronauTx is a biotech company developing novel treatments for
Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, based on
amplifying the brain's own physiological protective mechanisms.
AstronauTx was created by SV Health Investors' Dementia
Discovery Fund in 2019 with additional seed stage funding from the
UCL Technology Fund and the UK Future Fund, and completed a £48
million/$61milion Series A financing in October 2023. The syndicate was led by the
Novartis Venture Fund, with participation from SV's Dementia
Discovery Fund and new investors MPM BioImpact, Brandon Capital,
EQT Life Sciences and Bristol Myers Squibb.
In July 2023, AstronauTx announced
a partnership with Saniona, a Danish biotechnology company, to
identify new treatments by modulating a novel, undisclosed ion
channel target, expanding the Company's portfolio of programmes. In
September 2023, AstronauTx was
awarded an Innovate UK grant to fund preclinical work on one of its
programmes.
For more information, please go to www.AstronauTx.Bio.
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SOURCE AstronauTx