WATERTOWN, Mass., Oct. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Selecta Biosciences, Inc.(NASDAQ:SELB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on unlocking the full potential of biologic therapies by avoiding unwanted immune responses, today announced two additions to its management team with the appointment of John Leaman, M.D., as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Strategy, and the addition of Stephen Smolinski to the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer.
“Selecta is advancing its first product candidate toward a pivotal Phase 3 program, has several others in development and sees much broader potential for its anti-drug antibody mitigation technology platform,” said Dr. Cautreels. “Now is an opportune time to add John and Stephen to Selecta’s leadership team. In addition to his medical background, John brings to us more than 15 years of financial, operational and strategic experience within the life sciences field. Stephen, meanwhile, adds tremendous commercial expertise and an intimate knowledge of the immunology and rheumatology spaces. We expect that they will be instrumental contributors to Selecta’s continued growth and progress.”
Dr. Leaman most recently served as Head of Corporate Development at InfaCare Pharmaceutical Corp., a specialty pharmaceutical company that was recently acquired by Mallinckrodt plc. Prior to this, he was Chief Financial Officer of Medgenics, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company. He also previously held senior roles at Shire plc and Devon Park Bioventures, a venture capital fund targeting investments in therapeutics companies. Dr. Leaman brings to Selecta extensive licensing, merger and acquisition experience and began his career serving a range of life sciences companies as an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company. He received an M.D. from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a B.A. in psychology, philosophy and physiology from Oriel College, University of Oxford while completing a Rhodes Scholarship, and a B.S. in biology from Elizabethtown College.
Dr. Leaman assumes the CFO role from David Siewers, who is retiring and plans to remain as a consultant to the company. “On behalf of the management team and Board of Directors, I would like to thank David for his tireless commitment and invaluable contributions to Selecta. We look forward to benefitting from his continued involvement and guidance,” said Dr. Cautreels.
Mr. Smolinski will lead the development of commercial plans for Selecta’s product candidates, with an initial focus on SEL-212 for the treatment of chronic severe gout. Most recently, he served as Vice President and Head of Sanofi/Genzyme’s North American Rheumatology Business Unit, where he led the development of commercialization plans for the rheumatoid arthritis medicine KEVZARA®. Prior to this, he served as Group Vice President of Immunology & Inflammation, Global Strategic Unit at Sanofi. Mr. Smolinski previously held senior commercial roles at Roche-Genentech, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He earned a B.S. in health care administration from Oregon State University.
About Selecta Biosciences, Inc.
Selecta Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is focused on unlocking the full potential of biologic therapies by avoiding unwanted immune responses. Selecta plans to combine its tolerogenic Synthetic Vaccine Particles (SVP™) with a range of biologics for rare and serious diseases that require new treatment options. The company’s current proprietary pipeline includes SVP-enabled enzyme, oncology and gene therapies. SEL-212, the company’s lead candidate in Phase 2, is being developed to treat severe gout patients and resolve their debilitating symptoms, including flares and gouty arthritis. Selecta’s oncology candidate, SEL-403, leverages a potent recombinant immunotoxin (LMB-100) that is in a Phase 1 program targeting pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma. Its two proprietary gene therapy product candidates, SEL-302 and SEL-313, are being developed for rare inborn errors of metabolism and have the potential to enable repeat administration. The use of SVP is also being explored in the development of vaccines and treatments for allergies and autoimmune diseases. Selecta is based in Watertown, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit http://selectabio.com and follow @SelectaBio on Twitter.
