SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Engrail Therapeutics™ (Engrail) (the Company), a neuroscience company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of patient-centric therapies, today announced two key executive appointments. Kimberly Vanover, Ph.D. has been named chief scientific officer, leading the building and advancement of the Company’s pipeline. Eve Taylor, Ph.D. has been named vice president, clinical development, overseeing all facets of Engrail’s clinical development programs and operations. Stephen Cunningham, M.D., previously executive vice president, development and chief scientific officer, will assume the role of chief development officer.
“We are excited to welcome Tony as a new independent director”
Dr. Vanover is an accomplished neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative drug discoverer and developer with more than 25 years of industry experience. Most recently, she served as senior vice president, early stage clinical development and translational medicine at Intra-Cellular Therapies, guiding CAPLYTATM (lumateperone) from early development to approval. Prior to Intra-Cellular, Dr. Vanover played a key role at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals in the development of NUPLAZID® (pimavanserin). She received her Ph.D. in biopsychology from the University of Chicago and completed her post-doctoral training at the University of California – San Diego and Lederle Laboratories.
Dr. Taylor has more than 20 years of industry experience with specific focus on neuroscience clinical development and operations. Most recently, she helped lead early stage clinical development at Intra-Cellular Therapies. Previously, Dr. Taylor led clinical development activities at Cytori Therapeutics, Ceregene and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals. She has also provided clinical development and other consulting services to early stage biotechnology companies as founder of Taylored BioConsulting. Dr. Taylor received her BSc (Hons) from University of Western Australia, Ph.D. in biochemistry from King’s College London and completed her post-doctoral training at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and University of California – San Diego.
“Kim and Eve bring deep industry experience and a collaborative spirit to Engrail,” said Vikram Sudarsan, Ph.D., CEO, Engrail Therapeutics. “They share our team’s passion to transform the lives of patients and position us well to build and advance our pipeline. With their leadership and the continued support of our lead investor, Nan Fung Life Sciences, we’ve taken another step towards building a leading neuroscience company.”
The Company also expanded its board of directors to five members. Dr. Tony Ho was appointed to Engrail’s board of directors effective immediately. Dr. Ho is a highly accomplished R&D executive with experience throughout his 20-year career across all phases of R&D, including discovery, early and late-stage clinical development and regulatory. He has served as CRISPR Therapeutics’ (CRISPR) executive vice president, research and development since August 2017. Prior to joining CRISPR, Tony held a number of roles at AstraZeneca, most recently senior vice president and head of oncology integration and innovation. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Dr. Ho was the neurology and ophthalmology clinical section head at Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., and led multiple development programs. He received his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his B.S. in electrical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Ho completed his residency and neurophysiology fellowship in the Department of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Hospital and is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University. He has published more than 80 papers across several fields and is co-inventor of seven patents.
“We are excited to welcome Tony as a new independent director,” commented Peter Bisgaard, Engrail’s chairman. “Tony joins Engrail at an exciting time as we recently closed our $32 million Series A financing round and are moving ahead with the clinical development of our first pipeline asset, ENX-101, a sub-type selective GABA A modulator. He complements the skills and experiences of our other directors, and we’re confident Tony will be able to provide us with valuable perspective as we acquire new assets and advance our pipeline.”
About Engrail Therapeutics
Founded in 2019, Engrail is forging a new direction to reduce the enormous burden of diseases that impact the nervous system. We unite biological insights with clinically meaningful solutions to build and catalyze a diversified portfolio of transformative medicines. Harnessing our rigorous scientific approach to identify the most promising therapies, we leverage our flexible transaction model to advance assets with validated mechanisms and efficiently move them through development to commercialization. Engrail is supported by a long-term capital commitment from Nan Fung Life Sciences. For more information, visit www.engrail.com.