Vincent Mutel, Chief Executive Officer, Vice Chairman & Co-Founder
Since co-founding Addex in 2002, Dr Mutel has guided the development of a ground-breaking portfolio of proprietary drug discovery technologies for orally available small molecule allosteric modulators, several of which have progressed into preclinical and clinical development. Leveraging the platform technologies and the products it produced, he signed drug development partnerships with Merck & Co., Inc. and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company. During this time Addex completed an IPO (CHF137/US$111 million) and three rounds of private financing (totaling CHF106/US$81 million). At Roche, where he worked for 15 years, he coordinated the research activities of several laboratories involved in drug discovery and development and was named Head of the Pharmacology Group in the Central Nervous System Diseases Department. He also was a member of Roche’s Board of Research Area Heads, which contributed to Roche’s research strategy. Dr. Mutel is a non-executive member of the Board of Lectus Therapeutics Ltd, UK. He is a co-author of over 60 research publications and co-inventor on over 20 patents for CNS drugs.
Tim Dyer, Chief Financial Officer & Co-Founder
As co-founder of Addex, Mr. Dyer has completed the Addex IPO and three rounds of private financing, raising a total of CHF243 million. During this time, Addex has advanced several internally discovered allosteric modulators into clinical and preclinical testing while signing drug development partnerships with Merck & Co., Inc. and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company. Prior to joining Addex he spent 10 years with Price Waterhouse & PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the UK, Ex-Soviet Union and Switzerland as part of the audit and business advisory group. Mr Dyer has extensive experience in finance and the building of start-up companies. He is a UK Chartered Accountant and holds a BSc(Hons) in Biochemistry and Pharmacology from the University of Southampton.
Charlotte Keywood, Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Keywood, who was a consultant for Addex from inception, formally joined in 2004. She has overseen the development of ADX10059, which completed Phase IIb development in late 2009, and ADX48621, which completed Phase I development in 2009. She has 15 years of experience in drug development and medical marketing across a broad range of therapeutic areas in the U.S. and Europe. During this time she has been responsible for all stages of clinical development, including pre- and post-registration and pharmacovigilance activities. Dr. Keywood, acting as a consultant, served from 2001 to 2003 as Medical Director for Axovan, a Swiss biotech company that was acquired by Actelion in 2003. From 1996 to 2001 she was Medical Director at CNS company Vernalis, where she helped bring a new migraine drug, Frova frovatriptan, to the market. From 1991 to 1996 she was Medical Director of the European subsidiary of U.S. biotechnology company Gensia. Dr Keywood is a cardiologist who completed her post-graduate training at St Thomas’ Hospital, London.
Sonia Poli, Head of Non-Clinical Development
Dr. Poli, who joined Addex in 2004, has broad expertise in drug development from lead generation through to entry in man. At Addex she has overseen the transition of multiple products from discovery projects to clinical development programs, including ADX10059 and ADX48621. She worked from 1997 to 2004 in the drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) area at Roche, where she was a key inventor and global head of a multidimensional optimization approach for drug discovery and development and played an important role in selecting clinical candidates in CNS indications, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, bi-polar disorders and anxiety. Dr. Poli obtained her degree and doctorate in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Milan in 1993 and completed a post doctoral fellowship at the CNRS, in Paris, in the group of Prof. D. Mansuy in 1997. Dr. Poli is co-author of more than 25 research publications and patents.
Emmanuel Le Poul, Head of CNS Business Unit
Dr. Le Poul leads a multidisciplinary group responsible for the discovery and early development of CNS programs. He joined Addex in 2003, as Head of Biochemistry, to manage the company’s high throughput screening (HTS) and in vitro pharmacology activities. During this time, Addex has built a portfolio of internally discovered allosteric modulator products and established partnerships with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, and Merck & Co., Inc. on three CNS programs. Prior to joining Addex, Dr. Le Poul was Head of Drug Discovery and Pharmacology at Euroscreen, where he set up and oversaw the operation of HTS programs for small molecules targeting proprietary targets for CNS and immunology indications. Before that, he was involved in discovery projects at Janssen Pharmaceutica (Johnson & Johnson) in Belgium. Dr. Le Poul completed a Ph.D. in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (main neuropharmacology) and a Pharm.D (main Industry) at the University of Paris XI. He is a coauthor of 26 publications and 10 patents. Since 2000, he has been a lecturer at Brussels University where he lectures on the impact of new technologies on modern drug discovery.
Laurent Galibert, Head of Inflammation Business Unit
Dr. Galibert joined Addex in 2008 and has focused on adapting the allosteric modulation discovery platform for use with clinically validated targets in inflammation. From 2005 to 2008 he was at Merck Serono, where he was senior staff scientist. From 1996-2005 he held successive research positions at Immunex Corp. (acquired by Amgen Inc.) and Amgen, where he cloned the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) and co-authored the initial patent leading to the development of Amgen’s denosumab, a monoclonal antibody against RANKL, which is in Phase III development for postmenopausal osteoporosis. From 1991-1995 Dr. Galibert was a PhD fellow at Schering-Plough. He received a PhD in biological engineering from the Centre Universitaire des Sciences et Techniques in Clermont-Ferrand, France in 1990. Dr. Galibert is coauthor of 26 research publications and 8 patents.
Jean-Philippe Rocher, Head of Core Chemistry
Dr. Rocher has been working with Addex since inception and established the company’s chemistry department. He is a medicinal chemist who has discovered several pre-clinical and clinical candidates for CNS and inflammatory diseases and cancer over the course of his career. He was director of chemistry at Devgen NV, Gent, Belgium from 2001 to 2002. From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Rocher was senior research scientist for GlaxoSmithKline KK in Tsukuba, Japan, where he played a key role in implementing a modern drug discovery process and in improving communication with the U.K. and U.S. sites. From 1995 to 1997 he was the first ever “guest scientist” at Mitsubishi Pharma in Yokohama, Japan. Prior to that Dr. Rocher worked for contract research company Battelle, in Geneva, where he initiated neuropharmacology chemistry research programs. He obtained his PhD at the Faculty of Pharmacy of Lyon, France in 1987 and started his career as a research scientist in the dermatology research centre of Galderma at Sophia-Antipolis, France. He holds a Doctorate in Pharmacy and took additional courses at the School of Chemistry in Lyon.
Robert Lütjens, Head of Core Biology
Dr. Lütjens joined Addex in 2002 to head up assay development for discovery and high throughput screening. Prior to that he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neuropharmacology at the Scripps Research Institute, in La Jolla, CA. His research focused on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of memory, and more particularly, in the mechanisms responsible for addiction to drugs of abuse. Dr Lütjens obtained his master’s degree in Biology at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research and went on to complete a Biology Ph.D. thesis at the Glaxo Institute for Molecular Biology in Geneva and the Institute for Cellular Biology and Morphology in Lausanne. He has an undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Geneva, Dr. Lütjens is co-author of more than 10 research publications and co-inventor on several patents.
Tatiana Pont Carteret, Head of Human Resources
Mrs. Pont Carteret joined Addex in late 2008 and has focused on further developing the group human resources function. After an initial career in private banking, Mrs. Pont Carteret gained 12 years of international experience across a broad range of human resources specialties. She held various senior HR positions with: Lloyds TSB Bank (2006-2008); Union Bancaire Privée (2005-2006); Capital International (2001-2004); DHL Switzerland (1997-2001). Mrs. Pont Carteret holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Geneva.
Chris Maggos, Head of Investor Relations & Communications
Mr. Maggos, who joined Addex in 2007, has worked as a journalist, an investor in public equity and a neurobiologist. He was Senior Writer for BioCentury, a biotechnology trade publication, from 2001 to 2007. He worked from 1997 to 2000 as an Associate at Casdin Capital Partners (later known as Cooper Hill Partners) where he helped manage a $350 million biotech hedge fund in New York City. Prior to that, from 1993 to 1997, Mr. Maggos performed research on the molecular neurobiology of drug abuse at The Rockefeller University, co-authoring 11 scientific publications. He received a BA in English Literature from Yale University in 1993.