– USA, MA – Quartet Medicine, a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel treatments for pain and inflammation, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Gerhard Koenig, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Koenig brings over 17 years of senior scientific leadership experience, and has been appointed to Quartets Board of Directors.
We are very excited to have Gerhard join Quartet as we continue to make important progress with our first-in-class therapy for chronic pain and inflammation, said Bruce Booth, Partner at Atlas Venture and Chairman of Quartets Board of Directors. Gerhards long track record of scientific leadership, spanning discovery stage programs through pivotal clinical studies, will serve Quartet well as we continue to advance our lead program in partnership with Merck.
In January 2016, Quartet announced a transformative partnership with Merck around its therapeutic discovery program focused on the de novo tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) synthesis pathway. The research and development funding provided by Merck is being used to advance Quartets lead program through Phase 2a clinical proof-of-concept for the treatment of pain. Since its inception in Atlas Ventures company-creating seed program in late 2013, Quartet has worked closely with scientific founders Clifford Woolf, M.D., Ph.D. of Harvard Medical School and Boston Childrens Hospital, and Kai Johnsson, Ph.D., of cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL), to advance its R&D pipeline.
I am excited to be joining and leading the strong Quartet team to advance the urgently needed innovation in pain management into clinical development together with our partner Merck. said Dr. Koenig. In light of the enormous unmet medical need in chronic pain management, Im energized at the opportunity to help advance this novel and potentially high impact therapeutic approach. With intriguing human genetics, a translatable biomarker, a committed pharma partner, and an experienced team all in place, Quartet has the key ingredients to succeed.
Dr. Koenig most recently served as Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President, Research, at FORUM Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on the development and delivery of innovative medicines to treat serious brain diseases. Dr. Koenig joined as the companys fourth employee, and during his 13-year tenure he championed and led FORUMs overall strategic scientific direction. Dr. Koenig built a highly productive research group which introduced multiple programs into clinical development, and contributed key mechanistic findings on clinical stage programs. Prior to joining FORUM, Dr. Koenig served as Vice President at F prime Capital (formerly known as Fidelity Biosciences), which was the lead investor in FORUM. Before that, Dr. Koenig was Director and Head of the Neurodegeneration Department at Bayer AG. Dr. Koenig holds a Master of Science degree with honors in neurobiology and neurosciences, and a Ph.D. in biology summa cum laude, with a major in genetics and molecular neurobiology, both from Heidelberg University.
- Disclaimer - News, data, and statements included in this release are intended exclusively for general information purposes. Talent4Boards does not guarantee that news is accurate or about the correct person and accepts neither liability for the consequences of the reader’s reliance, nor responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Nothing in this release should be considered for decisions about referred securities. Products and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
