Date: 2014-05-06
Type of information: Nomination
Compound: chief operating officer
Company: Gensight Biologics (France)
Therapeutic area: Rare diseases - Genetic diseases - Ophtalmological diseases
Type agreement: nomination
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- • On May 6, 2014, GenSight Biologics announced the appointment of Jean-Philippe Combal as Chief Operating Officer. Dr Combal will lead the Company’s operational activities and the development of its products. GenSight’s lead product, GS010, is a gene replacement therapy currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical study to treat Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), a rare mitochondrial disease that leads to irreversible and often brutal sight loss in teens and young adults and for which there is no treatment available. GenSight is also developing an optogenetic therapy approach to restore vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative condition of the retina that leads to blindness. Optogenetics is a gene therapy based approach designed to re-sensitize dysfunctional photoreceptor cells in the retina by introducing photosensitive proteins using viral vectors.
Dr Combal has 23 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He worked at Fovea Pharmaceuticals from 2006 to 2011, as Vice President, Director of Development, where he was instrumental in the development of all products leading to Fovea’s acquisition by Sanofi in 2009. He then held the position of Vice President, Strategic Marketing for the Ophthalmic Division of Fovea-Sanofi with responsibility for a portfolio of ophthalmic products. Since 2011, Dr Combal was at Galderma International leading strategic marketing of early projects up to phase 2b and portfolio development for its Dermatology Strategic Therapeutic Area. Prior to this he worked at Servier, Pierre-Fabre Medicament, Fournier-Solvay Pharma and ExonHit Therapeutics. He holds a PharmD and PhD from Paris XI & Paris V University, respectively, and a business degree from ESCP Strategic Marketing & General Management Program from CEDEP-INSEAD.
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