Istesso, the leading adaptive tissue-repair company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Mike Owen to its Board of Directors as a non-executive director with immediate effect.
Dr Owen brings over 40 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and has extensive expertise leading drug discovery and development, in particular identifying the clinical and commercial positioning of novel drugs. Dr Owen started his industry career at GSK, where he was Senior Vice President (SVP) and Head of Biopharmaceuticals Research from 2001 to 2009. During this time, he was accountable for a biopharmaceuticals portfolio comprising over twenty projects in multiple therapeutic areas, including clinical Phase 1 and 2 assets in diseases of major unmet medical need such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, motor neurone disease, severe asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
After leaving GSK, Dr Owen co-founded and served as the first Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Kymab Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company developing fully human monoclonal antibody therapeutics, acquired by Sanofi in 2021. He currently serves as a non-executive director on the Boards of NovalGen and Sareum and is Chair of Ossianix. Dr Owen is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
“I’m very happy to be joining Istesso at this important time,” said Dr Owen. “I have been following Istesso’s bold approach to reversing tissue damage with great interest. Its promising scientific research into this currently untapped area has the potential to fundamentally change the treatment paradigm for chronic diseases and therefore holds enormous clinical and commercial potential. I can’t wait to get started in helping Istesso accelerate the development of its investigational lead drug leramistat.”
“We are delighted to welcome Mike to our Board, further strengthening our exceptional leadership team,” said Dr Lisa Patel, Chief Executive, Istesso. “Mike brings a wealth of experience in applying novel science to the development of impactful treatments that deliver better outcomes for patients across multiple indications, including autoimmune and cardiometabolic disorders. His decades of drug development expertise will be invaluable as we progress our unique adaptive repair pipeline through clinical development and advance our investigational lead asset, leramistat.”
