William Pao Joins Alentis Therapeutics as Independent Board Member

January 8, 2024 |

3 min read

Alentis Therapeutics announced that Dr. William Pao will join its Board of Directors as an independent member effective immediately.

Dr. Pao, former Chief Development Officer at Pfizer and Head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, is highly recognized for his work in translational medicine

BASEL, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Alentis Therapeutics (“Alentis”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing treatments for organ fibrosis and Claudin-1 positive tumors, announced today that Dr. William Pao will join its Board of Directors as an independent member effective immediately.

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Dr. William Pao has joined Alentis Therapeutics’ Board of Directors as an independent member. (Photo: Alentis Therapeutics)

“It’s tremendous to welcome William to the team,” said Roberto Iacone, Chief Executive Officer of Alentis. “His deep experience and understanding of global drug development and oncology will undoubtedly provide invaluable insights that will enable us to bring our novel anti-CLDN1 antibodies to patients.”

Luca Santarelli, Chair of Alentis said: “It’s a great pleasure to welcome William at Alentis and have the opportunity to work together again. William brought many new drugs to approval which changed the standard of care for patients suffering from serious medical conditions. With his deep oncology and drug development experience, William’s appointment significantly strengthens Alentis’ board.”

Pao commented: “I am delighted to join Alentis, the worldwide leader in Claudin-1 biology. Its exciting science and promising pipeline spanning oncology and fibrosis set the stage for continued success, and I look forward to supporting Alentis on this journey.”

Dr. William Pao is recognized for his ground-breaking work in translational medicine, mechanistic and clinical studies of targeted cancer therapeutics, cancer genomics and personalized medicine. As Chief Development Officer and Executive Vice President for Pfizer, he was a member of the Executive Leadership Team and led the Global Product Development organization, as well as regulatory affairs. As Head of the Roche Pharma Research & Early Development (pRED) unit, he was a member of the Enlarged Corporate Executive Committee and oversaw the discovery and early development of new molecular entities across multiple therapeutic areas. At pRED, he also served as the Global Head of the Oncology Discovery and Translational Area.

Prior to joining industry, he was a practicing oncologist, lab researcher and clinical investigator at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and then Vanderbilt University, where he also served as the Division Chief of Hematology/Oncology. He’s currently an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt. William received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his MD and PhD degrees from Yale University.

About Alentis Therapeutics
Alentis Therapeutics, the CLDN1 company, is a clinical-stage biotech developing breakthrough treatments for CLDN1+ tumors and organ fibrosis. CLDN1 is a previously unexploited target that plays a key role in the pathology of cancer and fibrotic disease. Alentis is the leading company pioneering anti-CLDN1 antibodies to modify and reverse the course of disease.

Alentis was founded in 2019 based on ground-breaking research in the laboratory of Prof. Thomas Baumert, MD at the University of Strasbourg and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). Alentis is headquartered in pharma-biotech hub Basel, Switzerland with an R&D subsidiary in Strasbourg, France and clinical operations in the US. Visit https://alentis.ch