LNC Therapeutics Announces Formation of its Scientific Advisory Board

Bordeaux, France, November 5th 2019 – LNC Therapeutics, a French biotech company specializing in gut microbiome-based drug research and discovery, announced today formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), composed of preeminent experts in the gut microbiome and related therapeutic applications. The SAB will play an integral role in supporting LNC Therapeutics’ leadership by providing scientific insight and guidance on the company’s research and development strategy, particularly related to LNC’s proprietary Christensenella platform.

Georges Rawadi, Chief Executive Officer of LNC Therapeutics, commented, “We are pleased to be accompanied by this Scientific Advisory Board, formed of such distinguished experts in the gut microbiome therapeutic sector. Following our recent capital raise, which shows our investors full support, LNC Therapeutics is focused on working closely with these prominent scientific advisors, whose collective guidance and significant experience will be invaluable in advancing our pipeline of innovative single strain drugs. We are now well equipped to continue the development of our live biotherapeutic products and to deliver on the great potential of the microbiome for improving human health and treating diseases, starting with metabolic diseases.”

Dr. Joël Doré, member of the SAB, said, “The impact of gut microbiome properties on the human health is truly an exciting and rapidly expanding area of research, that has the potential to revolutionize how we manage most diseases. The research undertaken by LNC Therapeutics around Christensenella is perfectly in line with this dynamic and I am thrilled to support the discovery of these bacteria new therapeutic applications. Therefore, I am very proud to join the Scientific Advisory Board of LNC Therapeutics and to be able to contribute to the development of such an innovative company.”

The members of the Company’s SAB include:

Dr. Jean-Pierre Lehner, M.D., SAB Chairman. Previously, Dr. Lehner has held several executive positions within large pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi, Roussel, and Roussel-UCLAF in France. He was Sanofi’s Chief Medical Officer from 2005 until 2012. Currently, Dr. Lehner is a Board Member for several life sciences companies to which he provides his expertise in new health products clinical development and his knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Lehner earned his medical degree from the University of Paris School of Medicine.

Dr. Joël Doré, Ph.D. is the Director of Research at the Micalis Institute and is the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA) Scientific Director of the MetaGenoPolis unit (Jouy-en-Josas, France) since 2012. Dr. Doré joined INRA in 1983 where he has been conducting research on intestinal microbiome for over 35 years. He was appointed as one of five deputy heads of the Micalis Institute (microbiology of food for health) between 2010 and 2014. Dr. Doré serves as chairman of the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility’s online scientific information platform, Gut Microbia For Health. Dr. Doré is the author of more than 200 scientific publications related to intestinal microbiome. He received his doctorate degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Prof. Karine Clément, M.D., Tenured Professor of Nutrition (PU-PH), Head of the NutriOmic unit (INSERM/University of the Sorbonne), nutrition department in the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, Paris. Her research interests include physiopathological mechanisms of obesity in humans in its various states of progression and co-morbidities. Previously, she has held several leadership positions at prestigious scientific units, such as the ICAN university hospital unit (2011 – 2016) and Inserm’s “AVENIR” team, a program allowing researchers to set up and lead a team within an existing research structure once they obtained their scientific thesis, at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital (2002 – 2006). Prof. Clément currently serves as the Chief Scientific Advisor to the World Obesity Foundation and sits on the scientific advisory board of numerous well-known foundations and international organizations. In addition to that, she provides the benefit of her expert scientific knowledge to academic institutions such as the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research in Copenhagen. She has published over 300 scientific papers in highly renowned peer-reviewed journals and submitted 8 patents.

Dr. Eric Ravussin, Ph.D. is a Boyd Professor at the University of Louisiana, the Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center and the Douglas L. Gordon Chair in Diabetes and Metabolism, Associate Executive Director for Clinical Science at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton-Rouge. Dr. Ravussin is a world expert in conducting translational research into obesity and type 2 diabetes. With over 35 years of experience, he has led numerous clinical investigations on measures of energy expenditure, body composition, carbohydrate metabolism and biomarkers of aging in health and disease states. His lab, established over the past 15 years, focuses on skeletal muscle and adipose tissue cross talks and the relationship of these two tissues on inflammation, nutrient partitioning and insulin sensitivity. He has served as the Chief Obesity Research Officer of Eli Lilly, in Indianapolis, and worked for 14 years at the Diabetes and Digestive and Renal Disease branch of the NIH in Phoenix, where he played a key role in landmark studies on the causes of obesity and type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians. Since 2012, Dr. Ravussin is Editor in Chief of Obesity. Dr. Ravussin has been the recipient of multiple awards such as: the 1990 Andre Meyer Prize presented by IASO for outstanding achievements in obesity research; the 2001 “E.V. McCollum Award” for actively generating new concepts in nutrition and personally seeing to the execution of studies testing the validity of these concepts (American Society for Clinical Nutrition); the 2010 “Willendorf Award” presented by IASO for outstanding contributions to clinical research in obesity; the 2011 George Bray Founders Award recognizing “significant contributions that advanced the scientific or clinical basis for understanding or treating obesity” presented by TOS; the 2017 Friends of Albert (Mickey) Stunkard Life Achievement Award presented by TOS in remembrance of Dr. Albert (Mickey) Stunkard and recognizes people who have made a lifetime of outstanding contributions to the field of obesity in terms of scholarship, mentorship and education and recently the ASN Class of 2018 Fellows (ASN highest honor). He has been an active member of The Obesity Society, serving on the Council, the program committee and as a former President of the Society from 2006-2008. He has published more than 450 peer-reviewed papers on obesity, type 2 diabetes and aging. Dr. Ravussin obtained a doctorate degree in Human Physiology from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Dr. James Kinross, M.D. serves as a faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Colorectal Surgery at the Imperial College of London. Dr. James Kinross is also consulting colorectal surgeon at St. Mary’s Hospital, London. His clinical interests include minimally invasive and laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of colorectal cancer and is funded by the Bowel and Cancer Research charity and the Imperial Biomedical Research Centre. He also has an interest in surgical nutrition and modulation of the gut microbiota by pro and prebiotics for improved operative outcomes. Previously, he was an NIH Clinical Lecturer in Surgery and an Ethicon Laparoscopic Fellow in Colorectal Surgery. Currently, he is a visiting Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. He was trained in northwest London.

About LNC Therapeutics:

Founded in 2010, LNC Therapeutics is a French biotech company specialized in research & development of gut microbiome-based drugs. LNC Therapeutics’ goal is to develop new drug candidates to treat obesity and other metabolic diseases (LNC Therapeutics historical indications) and to enlarge its expertise to other indications for which no treatment exist yet.

Backed by leading venture capital investors such as Seventure Partners through their microbiome-dedicated vehicle Health for Life Capital) and Family Offices, the company cultivates worldwide collaborations with renowned medical experts to ensure the highest level of standards in the development of innovative drugs.

For more information: www.lnctherapeutics.com - Follow us on Twitter @LNCTherapeutics