Landos Biopharma Inc. ,a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing its LANCE® Advanced A.I. platform to discover and develop novel oral small-molecule therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases, today announced that Josep Bassaganya-Riera, Ph.D., has stepped down as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Tim M. Mayleben, a member of the Landos Board, has been appointed Interim President and CEO. Chris Garabedian, also a Landos Director, has been appointed Chairman of the Board. Dr. Bassaganya-Riera will serve as an advisor to the Company to ensure a smooth transition.
The Company’s Board will initiate a search process to identify its next CEO.
Mr. Garabedian said, “Josep has built our company from the ground up. Under his visionary leadership, Landos has made tremendous progress advancing and expanding its pipeline of first-in-class oral therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases. With seven product candidates in the pipeline across three novel mechanisms, Josep and the Board agree that this is the right time to transition to our next phase of leadership. The Landos Board is actively engaged in a search process to identify a leader with public company and significant clinical development experience that can manage a complex pipeline across multiple indications and realize the full potential of Landos’ promising portfolio. On behalf of the Board and everyone at Landos, I want to thank Josep for his vision in creating a truly innovative and science-driven entrepreneurial culture, which has brought success and set the company up for a promising future. We look forward to continuing to benefit from his perspectives as an advisor and shareholder as we now focus on advancing our lead clinical programs and continue to drive sustainable, long-term value for our shareholders.”
Mr. Garabedian continued, “The Board of Directors has appointed Tim Mayleben as Interim CEO to lead the Company during this transition period as we focus on building a highly-experienced leadership team through this important next phase of development. Tim brings more than two decades of leadership experience in the development and approval of innovative therapies. Since joining our Board, he has played an invaluable role in helping Landos navigate the market as a publicly traded company while advancing strategies for our high-impact clinical stage assets. With Tim’s leadership, we believe Landos is well positioned to continue advancing as we work to identify Josep’s successor.”
Mr. Mayleben commented, “It is a great honor to serve as Interim CEO during this important time for Landos. I have long viewed Landos as a pioneer in our industry, and since joining the Board, I have gained an even deeper appreciation for the important role we have in developing first-in-class oral therapeutics that will address the unmet needs of patients with autoimmune diseases. I believe Landos is well-positioned for the future and look forward to collaborating with the entire team to deliver on our mission to discover and develop novel oral small-molecule therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases. As we work to identify the next leader of Landos, we will be reviewing our clinical development and commercialization plans to help ensure that we are focusing on the most value-enhancing near-and long-term opportunities.”
“I am proud of our significant achievements since our founding in January of 2017,” said Dr. Bassaganya-Riera. “Thanks to the incredible passion and dedication of the team, in these four years we have transformed our vision of creating safe, effective treatments into a cutting-edge precision medicine platform with proprietary A.I., drug discovery capabilities and a strong potential to help patients around the world. As I redirect my efforts from Landos towards broadly strengthening our innovative ecosystem, I am confident that with our efforts, Landos remains well-positioned to address the therapeutic gap in the current treatment paradigm for autoimmune diseases. I look forward to continuing to support the Company in an advisory capacity and as a shareholder, as the Company advances its strategic objectives and continues to deliver enduring value for all our stakeholders.”
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