Santhera Appoints Shabir Hasham as Chief Medical Officer and Member of the Executive Management Team
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR
Pratteln, Switzerland, April 13, 2022 – Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) announces the appointment of Shabir Hasham, MD, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and a member of Santhera’s Executive Management team, effective May 1, 2022.
Shabir has served as Santhera’s Global Development Program Lead & Global Head Medical Affairs for the past three years. In this role, Shabir was primarily responsible for overseeing the clinical development and regulatory submission of vamorolone for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which culminated in the start of the rolling NDA submission to the U.S. FDA in March 2022, and for supporting launch preparations for this lead product candidate. He previously served as Santhera’s Head of Medical Affairs EU & RoW.
Before joining Santhera in 2015, Shabir held various positions at Novartis including EU Medical Director and Global Associate Brand Director for the Neuroscience franchise at Novartis Pharma, and Senior Medical Manager at Novartis Oncology, contributing to global and regional clinical development, medical affairs and launch plans for new products. Earlier in his career, Shabir held medical manager and advisor roles within the neuroscience franchise at Biogen Idec and Pfizer’s cardiovascular business.
“As Program Lead for vamorolone and Head of Medical Affairs, Shabir has successfully guided Santhera’s clinical and regulatory work, led the data analysis effort and significantly increased the preclinical and clinical understanding of vamorolone both internally and with external stakeholders,” said Dario Eklund, CEO of Santhera. “Santhera has achieved a significant milestone with the start of the rolling NDA submission for vamorolone in DMD, and we are currently evaluating its potential in additional indications. Beyond this, our pulmonary candidate lonodelestat is close to entering Phase 2 clinical development, and I am confident that in his new role as CMO, Shabir will be a key contributor to shaping the future of Santhera by advancing our clinical projects with his team.”
“I am thrilled to be taking on the role of CMO at such a transformative point in the Company’s trajectory,” said Shabir Hasham, MD, newly appointed CMO of Santhera. “I look forward to helping drive Santhera’s mission in advancing vamorolone towards approval, first in the US and later in Europe, and clinically progressing lonodelestat, whilst working with the medical communities to leverage the transformational potential of our pipeline products in and beyond DMD and cystic fibrosis, respectively.”
Shabir completed his medical studies with an MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) degree from St Bartholomew’s School of Medicine, equivalent to a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in other jurisdictions. Prior to that, Shabir obtained a Bachelor of Science degree (Hons) in Immunopathology and Basic Medical Science from Imperial College London. After subsequently working as a physician with the UK NHS for a number of years, Shabir augmented his education by completing an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise (MBE), a Master’s degree in biotechnology and strategic models of commercialization, a joint program from University of Cambridge Institute of Biotechnology and The Judge School of Management, for which he was awarded a full scholarship. In 2003, he joined the pharmaceutical industry.
About Santhera
Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative medicines for rare neuromuscular and pulmonary diseases with high unmet medical need. Santhera has an exclusive license for all indications worldwide to vamorolone, a dissociative steroid with novel mode of action, which was investigated in a pivotal study in patients with DMD as an alternative to standard corticosteroids. The Company plans to complete the rolling submission of its filing for approval for vamorolone with the US FDA in Q2-2022. The clinical stage pipeline also includes lonodelestat to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) and other neutrophilic pulmonary diseases. Santhera out-licensed rights to its first approved product, Raxone® (idebenone), outside North America and France for the treatment of Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) to Chiesi Group. For further information, please visit www.santhera.com.
Raxone® is a trademark of Santhera Pharmaceuticals.
For further information please contact:
public-relations@santhera.com or
Eva Kalias, Head External Communications
Phone: +41 79 875 27 80
eva.kalias@santhera.com
Disclaimer / Forward-looking statements
This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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