Hamburg, April 4, 2017 – Topas Therapeutics GmbH (“Topas”), a privately held biotech company pursuing a novel liver-based immune tolerance approach, today announced the election of Paul Sekhri as Chairman of the Board effective immediately.
Paul Sekhri is currently CEO and President of the US based company Lycera Corporation (New York / NY & Ann Arbor / MI). Mr Sekhri has gained a wealth of experience in pharma, biotech and in the investment community – both in Europe and the US – by serving in various leading management positions in e.g. Sanofi, Teva, Novartis, Ariad and the TPG Capital group (TPG Biotech).
Pete Finan, former Chairman of Topas, stated: “We are delighted that Paul has joined our Board. With his wealth of experience he is an ideal fit to our team and adds significant value to support the next exciting steps in Topas’ development by building the bridge into the US with respect to the financial and partnering community.”
Paul Sekhri commented: “Topas clearly has breakthrough potential in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, allergies and anti-drug immune reactions. I am excited to become part of this professional team and to foster the development and commercialization of such innovative products.”
Following this appointment, the Board now consists of Paul Sekhri (Chairman), Pete Finan (Epidarex, Vice Chairman), Werner Lanthaler (Evotec), Karl Nägler (Gimv), Jan Adams (EMBL Ventures) and Erich Greiner (Cedrus Therapeutics).
About Topas Therapeutics GmbH
Topas, based in Hamburg/Germany, is a product focussed biotech company using proprietary nanoparticle technology to target autoimmune and allergic diseases through the induction of antigen specific immune tolerance in the liver. The technology has been invented at the University of Hamburg and is now owned and developed by Topas. The company pursues a number of pre-clinical programs and is expecting to enter the clinic in 2018.