PureTech Founded Entity Seaport Therapeutics Adds Industry Veteran to Board of Directors and Makes Key Executive Appointments

Rhea-AI Summary

PureTech Health plc's Founded Entity, Seaport Therapeutics, has added industry expert Denice Torres, J.D., to its Board of Directors along with making key executive appointments. Michael Chen, Ph.D., is now the Chief Scientific Officer, and Eric Green, MBA, assumes the role of Chief Operating Officer. Seaport, specializing in neuropsychiatry, recently secured a $100 million Series A financing. PureTech retains a 61.5% equity stake in Seaport post-funding, aligning with its strategy to share later-stage development costs and focus on innovation.

Positive

• Strategic appointments of industry veterans like Denice Torres and Eric Green, and the promotion of Michael Chen as Chief Scientific Officer, enhance Seaport's leadership team with diverse expertise in healthcare, biopharmaceuticals, and R&D.

• The $100 million Series A financing round reflects investors' confidence in Seaport's neuropsychiatric medicines programs, positioning it to advance innovative therapies for depression, anxiety, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

• PureTech's equity ownership of 61.5% in Seaport after the Series A funding ensures a substantial stake in the Founded Entity's success, sharing costs with outside investors for later-stage development and focusing resources on R&D innovation.

Negative

• The appointment of new executives and the launch of Seaport may pose integration challenges and require time to align the team's efforts and strategies effectively, potentially impacting short-term operational efficiencies.

Denice Torres, J.D., former Board Member of Karuna Therapeutics and accomplished healthcare executive at Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Neuroscience and Eli Lilly, appointed to Seaport Board of Directors

Eric Green, MBA, former development and commercialization leader at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, joins Seaport as Chief Operating Officer

Michael Chen, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Seaport and former Head of Innovation at PureTech Health named Seaport Chief Scientific Officer

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) (“PureTech” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, noted that its Founded Entity, Seaport Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that is charting a proven path in neuropsychiatry, today announced the appointment of Denice Torres, J.D., to its Board of Directors. In addition, Michael Chen, Ph.D., Co-founder, was named Chief Scientific Officer, and Eric Green, MBA, was appointed Chief Operating Officer.

PureTech Founded Entity Seaport Therapeutics Adds Industry Veteran to Board of Directors and Makes Key Executive Appointments (Graphic: Business Wire)

The appointments follow the recent launch of Seaport, PureTech’s newest Founded Entity, with a $100 million Series A financing round. Consistent with its model, PureTech internally advanced Seaport’s neuropsychiatric medicines programs to a key inflection point, and the pipeline – which is now being advanced by Seaport – can drive value for PureTech through an equity stake and license consideration. This enables PureTech to share the significant costs of later-stage development with outside investors and direct additional resources to its innovative R&D engine for the creation and validation of new therapeutic candidates. Following the Series A financing, PureTech holds equity ownership in Seaport of 61.5 percent on a diluted basis.

The full text of the announcement from Seaport is as follows:

Seaport Therapeutics Adds Industry Veteran to Board of Directors and Makes Key Executive Appointments

Denice Torres, J.D., former Board Member of Karuna Therapeutics and accomplished healthcare executive at Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Neuroscience and Eli Lilly, appointed to Seaport Board of Directors

Eric Green, MBA, former development and commercialization leader at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, joins as Chief Operating Officer

Michael Chen, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Seaport and former Head of Innovation at PureTech Health named Chief Scientific Officer

BOSTON, May 7, 2024 – Seaport Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is charting a proven path in neuropsychiatry, today announced the appointment of Denice Torres, J.D., to its Board of Directors. In addition, Michael Chen, Ph.D., Co-founder, was named Chief Scientific Officer, and Eric Green, MBA, was appointed Chief Operating Officer. The appointments follow the recent launch of Seaport with a $100 million Series A financing round to advance the development of novel neuropsychiatric medicines.

“We are incredibly honored to welcome Denice to our Board of Directors. She is an exceptional healthcare leader with a track record of successfully guiding organizations through significant growth and transformation,” said Steve Paul, M.D., Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors at Seaport. “Denice was a key contributor on the Karuna Board and I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with her again as we deliver on our mission to bring first and best-in-class medicines to those who are suffering from depression, anxiety and other neuropsychiatric disorders.”

Ms. Torres brings notable public and private board experience to Seaport, including a position on the Board of Directors at Karuna Therapeutics until its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in March 2024. She has over 30 years of P&L, strategy, and leadership experience in pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare and medical devices. Ms. Torres held several leadership positions at Johnson & Johnson, including President of J&J Consumer Healthcare, President of Janssen Neuroscience, and Chief Strategy Officer for the medical device division. Before joining Johnson & Johnson, she held senior leadership roles at Eli Lilly, including Executive Director of Global Neuroscience and Head of Women's Healthcare. Ms. Torres has received numerous awards, including Healthcare Businesswomen's Association Woman of the Year, Johnson & Johnson Working Mother of the Year, and the Johnson & Johnson Special Recognition Leadership Award for her work in diversity and inclusion.

“It’s an honor to join Seaport’s Board of Directors and a team of world-class innovators with an incredible track record of advancing the field of neuropsychiatry,” said Ms. Torres. “The company’s Glyph™ platform, fueled by breakthrough science, has the exciting potential to enhance the lives of millions of people living with neuropsychiatric disorders.”

Mr. Green steps into the role of Chief Operating Officer bringing nearly 25 years of biopharmaceutical development, commercialization and operational experience. Most recently, Mr. Green was Senior Vice President, Head of Development Programs at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals where he led a team responsible for global development and pre-commercialization activities for a portfolio of development stage programs. His initial role at Alnylam was as Senior Vice President, Global General Manager for the TTR Franchise, leading the first ever global approval of a RNAi therapeutic, ONPATTRO® (patisiran) and late-stage development of vutrisiran (now AMVUTTRA®). Mr. Green’s diverse experience spans across R&D process engineering, pharmaceutical manufacturing and operations, and global development and commercialization strategy with former roles at Synageva BioPharma, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme Corporation and Pfizer. He received an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a M.S. in chemical engineering from MIT School of Engineering. He earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from University of Michigan. At Seaport, he will be responsible for implementing strategies to support the growth and development of the company’s pipeline across the organization.

Dr. Chen is Co-founder and has now been appointed Chief Scientific Officer of Seaport. In his most recent role, Dr. Chen was the Head of Innovation at PureTech Health, where he oversaw the rapid advancement of the neuropsychiatric medicines that led to the launch of Seaport. These novel medicines are now being advanced within Seaport’s clinical-stage pipeline powered by the Glyph platform, which leverages the lymphatic system to create new medicines building on clinically validated mechanisms. Dr. Chen was previously Co-founder and Head of Research and Strategy at Sonde Health, a company developing vocal biomarkers for depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology. Dr. Chen completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University, focusing on the neurobiological mechanisms of risk for depression and sleep disorders. He received a B.A. from Yale University.

“Denice exudes incredible passion and exuberance for making a difference for patients, and we are delighted to enrich our board with her energy and experience in neuroscience, manufacturing, commercialization and organizational growth and culture. I feel privileged to be able to work closely with her as we build out our team and advance our pipeline programs,” said Daphne Zohar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Seaport. “I’m also excited to welcome two key members to our executive team. I had the pleasure of working with Michael as he played a critical role in the development of our Glyph platform and pipeline and I look forward to working closely with him in this expanded role. Eric is an accomplished leader and he will help propel Seaport forward as we rapidly execute on our growth strategy and progress our pipeline of important new medicines for patients in need.”

About Seaport Therapeutics

Seaport Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing the development of novel neuropsychiatric medicines in areas of high unmet patient needs. The Company has a proven strategy of advancing clinically validated mechanisms previously held back by limitations that are overcome with its proprietary Glyph^TM technology platform. All the therapeutic candidates in its pipeline of first and best-in-class medicines are based on the Glyph platform, which is uniquely designed to enable oral bioavailability, bypass first-pass metabolism and reduce hepatotoxicity and other side effects. Seaport is led by an experienced team that was involved in inventing and advancing KarXT and other neuropsychiatric medicines and are guided by an extensive network of renowned scientists, clinicians and key opinion leaders across neurological specialties. For more information, please visit www.seaporttx.com.

About PureTech Health

PureTech is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to new classes of medicine to change the lives of patients with devastating diseases. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders that is being advanced both internally and through its Founded Entities. PureTech's R&D engine has resulted in the development of 29 therapeutics and therapeutic candidates, including two that have received both U.S. FDA clearance and European marketing authorization and a third (KarXT) that has been filed for FDA approval. A number of these programs are being advanced by PureTech or its Founded Entities in various indications and stages of clinical development, including registration enabling studies. All of the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of therapeutic candidates were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key validation points.

For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on X (formerly Twitter) @puretechh.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation those related to Seaport’s development plans and our future prospects, developments and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks, uncertainties and other important factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC and in our other regulatory filings. 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, we disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240507753971/en/

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Source: PureTech Health plc

FAQ

Who has been appointed to Seaport Therapeutics' Board of Directors?

Denice Torres, J.D., a seasoned healthcare executive with experience at Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Neuroscience, and Eli Lilly.

What is Seaport's focus area?

Seaport specializes in neuropsychiatry, developing treatments for depression, anxiety, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

What percentage of equity does PureTech hold in Seaport post-Series A funding?

PureTech retains 61.5% equity ownership in Seaport after the $100 million Series A financing round.

Who is the Chief Scientific Officer at Seaport now?

Michael Chen, Ph.D., Co-founder of Seaport and former Head of Innovation at PureTech Health, has been appointed as the Chief Scientific Officer.