Areteia Therapeutics, Inc. ("Areteia") today announced that effective immediately its Board of Directors has appointed Donald J. Hayden, Jr. as Chair of the Board and Ian F. Smith as Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Hayden succeeds Ian Read, who announced that he is stepping down as board chair.
"I want to thank Ian for his invaluable contributions and leadership as the founding chair of our board," said Jorge Bartolome, Chief Executive Officer and President of Areteia. "He has played an instrumental role in helping us to stand up and establish our company and strategic direction."
"Additionally, I am delighted that both Don and Ian will be joining our board. They are incredibly accomplished and innovative executives whose depth of experience, proven leadership and expert judgment will be invaluable to our management team and the Board of Directors as we focus on delivering the Company's strategy and completing the ongoing Phase III program for dexpramipexole, the first potential oral drug for eosinophilic asthma."
"It is an honor to be chosen to serve as Chair of the Areteia Board of Directors and I look forward to working with Jorge and his team," said Don Hayden. "I am thrilled to help Areteia fulfill its mission to develop and deliver novel therapies for inflammatory airway diseases."
Ian Smith added, "I am very excited to serve as a board director, and Areteia's lead program dexpramipexole represents a compelling near-term opportunity to address unmet needs for people living with severe eosinophilic asthma, and offer patients and health systems a potential alternative to injectable biologics."
Mr. Hayden brings to his role a distinguished 43-year track record as one of the foremost innovators and value creators in the global biopharmaceutical industry. He has served as Chairman, CEO or Director of multiple successful biotechnology companies over the past 18 years following a highly successful, 25-year career at Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has helped build and grow multiple companies by developing innovative business strategies, assembling high-performance teams, advancing novel science, guiding organizations through key transformations, and mentoring senior leaders. Don received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and a Masters in Business Administration from Indiana University.
Mr. Smith brings to his role a distinguished track record of executive leadership, including nearly 20 years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals including roles as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Ian has been serving as Chairman/Director of multiple successful biotechnology companies and is a senior advisor to Bain Capital Life Sciences. He holds a B.A. with honors in accounting and finance from Manchester Metropolitan University (UK).
About Areteia
Areteia is a clinical-stage biotechnology company engaged in the development and delivery of a potential first-in-class oral therapy for inflammatory airway diseases with an initial focus on severe eosinophilic asthma. The Company has advanced its investigational drug, dexpramipexole into three separate Phase III clinical trials, including two 52-week global exacerbation trials and one 24-week lung function trial. We expect data from the first of these studies to read out before year end 2025. To learn more, please visit www.areteiatx.com
Areteia was created by Population Health Partners and Knopp Biosciences. A syndicate of leading life sciences and strategic investors led by Bain Capital Life Sciences with participation from Access Biotechnology, ARCH Venture Partners, Viking Global Investors, Marshall Wace, GV, Saturn Partners, Sanofi, Maverick Capital, and Population Health Partners, has committed to invest up to $425 million in Series A financing to establish Areteia and advance dexpramipexole through Phase III clinical trials, secure commercial supply, and pursue potential next-generation medicines.
About Dexpramipexole
Dexpramipexole, an investigational drug, is an oral small molecule that has been shown to lower eosinophil levels in blood and tissue and is currently in Phase III development for treatment of adults with severe eosinophilic asthma. Dexpramipexole's proposed mechanism of action is to inhibit the maturation of eosinophils in the bone marrow, based on evidence from cell cultures and human biopsies, thereby lowering peripheral blood eosinophil levels. Most recently in a Phase II study in patients with moderate-to-severe eosinophilic asthma, treatment with our investigational drug dexpramipexole resulted in a significant, dose-dependent reduction in blood absolute eosinophil count at all doses tested (twice daily dexpramipexole dihydrochloride doses of 37.5-mg, 75-mg, or 150-mg) compared to placebo. The investigational drug dexpramipexole was well tolerated in the Phase II trial, with adverse events balanced across treatment and placebo groups, no serious adverse events, and no adverse events leading to discontinuation.
About Eosinophilic Asthma
Asthma disrupts the lives of more than a quarter of a billion people worldwide. More than half of asthma patients have eosinophilic asthma, which is driven by an oversupply of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, in blood and tissue. By inhibiting the maturation of eosinophils, we believe that the oral administration of the investigational drug dexpramipexole acts to lower eosinophils. Currently approved injectable anti-IL-5/5R biologic therapies provide clinical benefit through eosinophil lowering. The global asthma biologic market is experiencing robust growth having doubled in the last three years and is valued today at approximately $10 billion. If approved as a first-to-market oral, dexpramipexole could provide an alternative to injectable biologics.
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Contacts:
Mark Kreston
Mark.Kreston@areteiatx.com
