PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC, Nasdaq: PRTC) (“PureTech” or the
“Company”), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to
discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated
medicines for devastating diseases, today announces the appointment
of Bharatt Chowrira, Ph.D., J.D., to its Board of Directors as an
executive director. Dr. Chowrira has served as PureTech’s President
and Chief of Business and Strategy since March 2017 and will
continue in that role as an executive director of the Company. Dr.
Chowrira’s appointment is effective from February 1, 2021.
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PureTech announced the appointment of
Bharatt Chowrira, Ph.D., J.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr.
Chowrira has served as PureTech’s President and Chief of Business
and Strategy since March 2017. (Photo: Business Wire)
“Bharatt has made a big impact since joining PureTech in 2017
and he continues to make key contributions as we advance our
clinical pipeline toward key value-driving milestones,” said Daphne
Zohar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PureTech Health, “We
are pleased to have him join our board of directors as one of the
three representatives of our executive team.”
As the President and Chief of Business and Strategy at PureTech,
Dr. Chowrira oversees the Company’s strategy and business
development initiatives.
“PureTech is making remarkable progress in the clinic as we
pioneer potentially transformational therapies for patients with
devastating diseases,” said Dr. Chowrira. “I’m pleased to join the
distinguished members of our Board as we aim to fulfill our vision
of giving life to science through innovative solutions to serious
public health challenges.”
Dr. Chowrira has more than two decades of experience in the
biopharma industry, combining a unique blend of R&D, business
development, operations, financing and legal expertise. Prior to
joining PureTech, Dr. Chowrira was the president of Synlogic, Inc.,
a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing synthetic
microbiome-based therapeutics, from September 2015 to February
2017, where he oversaw and managed corporate and business
development, alliance management, financial, human resources,
intellectual property and legal operations. Prior to joining
Synlogic, Dr. Chowrira was the Chief Operating Officer of Auspex
Pharmaceuticals Inc., from 2013 to 2015, which was acquired by Teva
Pharmaceuticals in the Spring of 2015. Prior to that, Dr. Chowrira
held various leadership and management positions, including at
Nektar Therapeutics (Chief Operating Officer), Merck & Co, or
Merck (Vice President), Sirna Therapeutics (General Counsel;
acquired by Merck) and Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals (Chief Patent
Counsel). Dr. Chowrira has been involved in the boards of several
of PureTech’s Founded Entities. He is currently a member of the
Board of Directors of Vedanta Biosciences, Inc., and he was
previously on the boards of Vor Biopharma, Inc. and Karuna
Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: KRTX). Dr. Chowrira received a JD from
the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, a PhD in molecular
biology from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, an MS
in molecular biology from Illinois State University and a BS in
microbiology from the UAS, Bangalore, India.
The company confirms that there is no further information
required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph 9.6.13 of the UK
Listing Rules.
PureTech’s Board of Directors
PureTech’s Board of Directors include former executives of major
pharmaceutical companies, entrepreneurs, and award winning academic
and clinical leaders who leverage their expertise to support our
mission. Following the appointment of Dr Chowrira, the board of
directors is comprised of the following members:
Daphne Zohar, Founder, Chief Executive
Officer and Director – Daphne Zohar is the Founder and Chief
Executive Officer of PureTech, and she has served as a member of
PureTech’s Board of Directors since the Company’s founding. She has
also served as the founding Chief Executive Officer of a number of
PureTech’s Founded Entities. A successful entrepreneur, Ms. Zohar
created PureTech, assembling a leading team to help implement her
vision for the Company, and was a key participant in fundraising,
business development and establishing the underlying programs and
platforms that have resulted in PureTech’s substantial
pipeline.
Chris Viehbacher, Board Chairman –
Chris Viehbacher has served as a member of PureTech’s Board of
Directors since 2015 and as Chairman since September 2019. He is
the Managing Partner of Gurnet Point Capital, a Boston based
investment fund associated with the Bertarelli family and has a $2
billion capital allocation. He is the former CEO and member of the
Board of Directors of Sanofi and was also the Chairman of the Board
of Genzyme in Boston.
Bharatt Chowrira, PhD, JD, President,
Chief of Business and Strategy and Director – Bharatt Chowrira,
PhD, JD, is the President and Chief of Business and Strategy of
PureTech, and he has served as a member of PureTech’s Board of
Director’s since 2021. Prior to joining PureTech, Dr. Chowrira was
the President of Synlogic, Inc. He previously served as the Chief
Operating Officer of Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc., until its
acquisition by Teva Pharmaceuticals, and he has held various
leadership and management positions across the biopharmaceutical
industry.
Raju Kucherlapati, PhD, Independent
Non-Executive Director – Raju Kucherlapati, PhD, has served as
a member of PureTech’s Board of Directors since 2014. He is the
Paul C. Cabot Professor of Genetics and Professor of Medicine at
Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kucherlapati was a founder and formerly
a board member of Abgenix (acquired by Amgen for $2.2 billion),
Cell Genesys and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda for
$8.8 billion).
John LaMattina, PhD, Independent
Non-Executive Director – John LaMattina, PhD, has served as a
member of PureTech’s Board of Directors since 2009. Dr. LaMattina
was previously president of Pfizer Global Research and Development
and held positions of increasing responsibility during his 30-year
career at Pfizer.
Bob Langer, ScD, Co-Founder and
Non-Executive Director – Bob Langer, ScD, is a Co-founder of
PureTech and has served as a member of PureTech’s Board of
Directors since the Company’s founding. He has served as the David
H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT since 2005. He is one of 12
institute professors, which is the highest honor that can be
awarded to a faculty member at MIT. Dr. Langer has received over
220 major awards and is the most cited engineer in history.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Independent
Non-Executive Director – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has served as a
member of PureTech’s Board of Directors since 2020. She is a
pioneering biotech entrepreneur, a healthcare visionary, a global
influencer and a passionate philanthropist. She is a pioneer of
India’s biotech industry and founder of Biocon.
Stephen M Muniz, Esq., Co-Founder, Chief
Operating Officer and Director – Stephen Muniz, Esq., is a
Co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer of PureTech, and he has
served as a member of PureTech’s Board of Directors since 2015.
Prior to joining PureTech, Mr. Muniz was a Partner in the Corporate
Department of Locke Lord LLP, where he focused on the
representation of life science venture funds as well as their
portfolio companies in general corporate matters and in investment
and liquidity transactions.
Dame Marjorie Scardino, Senior Independent
Director – Dame Marjorie Scardino has served as a member of
PureTech’s Board of Directors since 2015. She served as Chief
Executive of The Economist for 12 years and was the Chief Executive
of Pearson plc, the world’s leading education company and the owner
of Penguin Books and The Financial Times Group. She served as
chairman of The MacArthur Foundation from 2012 to 2017, and later
became the Chairman of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine.
PureTech’s R&D Committee
PureTech’s R&D Committee works in close collaboration with
the board and PureTech’s network of scientific experts to drive our
distinctive R&D model for advancing scientific breakthroughs.
The Committee is comprised of board members Bob Langer, ScD, Raju
Kucherlapati, PhD, and John LaMattina, PhD, in addition to the
following members:
H. Robert Horvitz, PhD, Board Observer and
R&D Committee Chair – H. Robert Horvitz, PhD, is a Board
Observer and Chair of PureTech’s R&D Committee. He received the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and is the David H Koch
Professor of Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an
investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, neurobiologist
(neurology) at Massachusetts General Hospital, a member of the MIT
McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the MIT Koch Institute
for Integrative Cancer Research. He is cofounder of multiple life
science companies, including Epizyme (EPZM), Mitobridge (acquired
by Astellas) and Idun Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer) and was
a member of the Scientific Advisor Board of the Novartis Institutes
for BioMedical Research.
Dennis Ausiello, MD, R&D Committee
Member – Dennis Ausiello, MD, is a member of PureTech’s R&D
Committee. He is the Jackson Distinguished Professor of Clinical
Medicine and was previously Director, Emeritus of the MD/PhD
Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ausiello is Chairman of
Medicine, Emeritus and Director of the Center for Assessment
Technology and Continuous Health (CATCH) at Massachusetts General
Hospital (MGH). Dr. Ausiello served on the Board of Directors of
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, where he was their former Lead
Director.
Bennett Shapiro, MD, Co-founder and
R&D Committee Member – Ben Shapiro, MD, is a Co-founder and
member of PureTech’s R&D Committee. As former Executive Vice
President at Merck Research Laboratories of Merck & Co., Dr.
Shapiro initially led Worldwide Basic Research and was responsible
for all the basic and preclinical research activities at Merck. He
later led Worldwide Licensing and External Research and was
responsible for Merck’s relationships with the academic and
industrial biomedical research community. His leadership resulted
in the discovery, development and registration of approximately 25
drugs and vaccines.
About PureTech Health
PureTech is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated
to discovering, developing and commercializing highly
differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, including
intractable cancers, lymphatic and gastrointestinal diseases,
central nervous system disorders and inflammatory and immunological
diseases, among others. The Company has created a broad and deep
pipeline through the expertise of its experienced research and
development team and its extensive network of scientists,
clinicians and industry leaders. This pipeline, which is being
advanced both internally and through PureTech’s Founded Entities,
as of the date of PureTech’s most recently filed Registration
Statement on Form 20-F, was comprised of 24 products and product
candidates, including two that have received FDA clearance and
European marketing authorization. All of the underlying programs
and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of product candidates
were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the
PureTech team through key validation points based on the Company’s
unique insights into the biology of the brain, immune and gut, or
BIG, systems and the interface between those systems, referred to
as the BIG Axis.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect
with us on Twitter @puretechh.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that are or may be
forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the
company's future prospects, developments, and strategies. The
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ
materially from current expectations, including, but not limited
to, our expectations regarding the potential therapeutic benefits
of our product candidates, our expectations regarding the
appointment of Bharatt Chowrira to the Board of Directors and those
risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors included in
the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These
forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the
present and future business strategies of the company and the
environment in which it will operate in the future. Each
forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press
release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements,
neither the company nor any other party intends to update or revise
these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210128006170/en/
Investors Allison Mead Talbot +1 617 651 3156
amt@puretechhealth.com
U.S. media Stephanie Simon +1 617 581 9333
stephanie@tenbridgecommunications.com
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