14 October 2021
PureTech Health plc
PureTech Founded Entity Vedanta Biosciences Appoints Simona Levi as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary
Extensive legal experience with private and public biotech companies, including Biogen, IVAX Corporation and Cell Signaling Technology
PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, announced today that its Founded Entity, Vedanta Biosciences ("Vedanta") has appointed Simona Levi, Ph.D., J.D., as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. Dr. Levi brings over 25 years of United States and international legal experience with private and public companies across the life sciences industry focusing on complex transactions, intellectual property law and litigation, and corporate governance.
Dr. Levi joins Vedanta from Cell Signaling Technology (CST), Inc., where she served as the general counsel and corporate secretary managing all legal matters including assisting with the formation of the company's global subsidiaries and structuring all financial transactions. Dr. Levi spent more than 25 years working as legal counsel for corporate and intellectual property matters in the life sciences industry. Most notably, she was a partner at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery, served as director of neurology for Biogen, and was a senior IP counsel for IVAX Corporation.
The full text of the announcement from Vedanta is as follows:
Vedanta Biosciences Appoints Simona Levi as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary
Extensive legal experience with private and public biotech companies, including Biogen, IVAX Corporation and Cell Signaling Technology
CAMBRIDGE, MA, October 14, 2021 - Vedanta Biosciences, a clinical-stage company that is developing a potential new category of oral therapies based on defined bacterial consortia, today announced the appointment of Simona Levi, Ph.D., J.D., as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. Dr. Levi brings over 25 years of United States and international legal experience with private and public companies across the life sciences industry focusing on complex transactions, intellectual property law and litigation, and corporate governance.
"Simona's deep legal experience and proven track record in the life sciences industry will be critical as we execute on our vision to enable a new class of drugs in the microbiome field," said Bernat Olle, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta Biosciences. "We are excited to welcome Simona to the Vedanta team and look forward to her contributions."
Dr. Levi joins Vedanta from Cell Signaling Technology (CST), Inc., where she served as the general counsel and corporate secretary managing all legal matters including assisting with the formation of the company's global subsidiaries and structuring all financial transactions. Dr. Levi spent more than 25 years working as legal counsel for corporate and intellectual property matters in the life sciences industry. Most notably, she was a partner at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery, served as director of neurology for Biogen, and was a senior IP counsel for IVAX Corporation.
Dr. Levi has a B.A. in biochemistry and economics, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Rutgers University and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Dr. Levi has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association since 1995.
"With the recent activity and interest in the microbiome field, it has become clear that Vedanta has shown great promise in pioneering defined bacterial consortia as a new class of therapeutics," said Dr. Levi. "Vedanta has assembled a talented and dedicated team and I am thrilled to be joining such a dynamic company at this pivotal stage of its growth."
About Vedanta Biosciences
Vedanta Biosciences is leading the development of a potential new category of oral therapies based on defined consortia of bacteria isolated from the human microbiome and grown from pure clonal cell banks. The company's clinical-stage pipeline includes product candidates being evaluated for the treatment of high-risk C. difficile infection, inflammatory bowel diseases, advanced or metastatic cancers, and food allergy. These investigational therapies are grounded in pioneering research - published in leading journals including Science, Nature, and Cell - to identify beneficial bacteria that live symbiotically within the healthy human gut, fight pathogens and induce a range of potent immune responses. Vedanta Biosciences controls a foundational portfolio of more than 40 patents and has built what it believes to be the world's biggest library of bacteria derived from the human microbiome. Proprietary capabilities include deep expertise in consortium design, vast datasets from human interventional studies and cGMP-compliant manufacturing of oral live biotherapeutic candidates containing pure, clonally derived bacterial consortia in powdered form. Vedanta Biosciences was founded by PureTech Health (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) and a global team of scientific co-founders who pioneered Vedanta's modern understanding of the cross-talk between the microbiome and the immune system.
About PureTech Health
PureTech is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, including inflammatory, fibrotic and immunological conditions, intractable cancers, lymphatic and gastrointestinal diseases and neurological and neuropsychological disorders, among others. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through the expertise of its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. This pipeline, which is being advanced both internally and through PureTech's Founded Entities, is comprised of 25 therapeutics and therapeutic candidates, including two that have received both U.S. FDA clearance and European marketing authorization, as of the date of PureTech's most recently filed Half Year Report and corresponding Form 6-K. 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 based on the Company's unique insights into the biology of the brain, immune and gut, or BIG, systems and the interface between those systems, referred to as the BIG Axis.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on Twitter @puretechh.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains 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 statements that relate to Vedanta's future prospects, development plans, 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, 2020 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.
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