Veteran Leader Brings Extensive Expertise in Rare Disease, including Renal Disease, and a Track Record of Regulatory Success with Orphan Diseases and Breakthrough Therapy Designations
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Walden Biosciences, Inc. (“Walden”), a private, venture-backed biotechnology company advancing disease-modifying therapies to transform the treatment of kidney disease, today announced the appointment of Howard Mayer, M.D. to its Board of Directors.
“Howard is an accomplished leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, and we are pleased to welcome him to our Board ahead of generating data from the Phase 2 Basket Study of WAL0921, our anti-suPAR antibody for the treatment of glomerular kidney diseases, and advancing our dynamin stabilizer, WAL0623, into the clinic,” said Blaine McKee, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Walden Biosciences. “We look forward to benefitting from his extensive expertise in clinical development, regulatory affairs, and orphan diseases in the context of both our near-term data readout as well as our longer-term mission to transform the treatment of kidney disease.”
Most recently, Dr. Mayer served as Executive Vice President, Head of Research and Development at Ipsen. Prior to his time at Ipsen, he was Chief Medical Officer at Shire, responsible for the hematology, immunology, oncology, genetic diseases, GI/metabolic, neuroscience, and ophthalmology therapeutic areas. Before Shire, Dr. Mayer served as Chief Medical Officer at EMD Serono, a division of Merck KGaA. He has also held a variety of global roles including Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs for Virology at Pfizer, and Director of Clinical Research at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Mayer earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at Mount Sinai Hospital and his fellowship at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Mayer has been honored by PharmaVoice as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the Life Sciences Industry in both 2011 and 2017.
“I’m excited to be joining Walden’s Board during this pivotal time in the Company’s evolution,” said Dr. Mayer. “Walden is generating important data on their lead program and has many upcoming significant inflection points from its pipeline. I look forward to working with this talented team and lending my expertise as the Company continues to advance its disease-modifying therapies for kidney disease.”
About Walden Biosciences
Walden Biosciences is a private, venture-backed Phase 2 clinical development-stage company focused on developing breakthrough, disease-modifying medicines to treat kidney diseases. Walden is applying novel, multi-disciplinary approaches that directly target the kidney to prevent damage, slow disease progression, and restore kidney function. Walden’s programs address novel targets for therapeutic intervention, directly targeting two cell types critical for kidney function: podocytes and proximal tubular cells. Dysfunction of these cells are critical hallmarks of the majority of kidney diseases. Walden’s clinical-stage program is a humanized monoclonal antibody that inhibits suPAR, a cause of podocyte dysfunction and kidney disease, which is being evaluated in a Phase 2 Basket study. Walden’s second most advanced program, a small molecule that is designed to stabilize and restore the function of dynamin, an enzyme responsible for the maintenance of the cytoskeletal architecture and function of podocytes and proximal tubule cells will begin a clinical study in 2025. All of Walden’s programs offer the promise to deliver disease-modifying, breakthrough therapies that are readily combinable with the standard of care to transform the treatment of kidney disease. For more information, please visit www.waldenbiosciences.com.
Investor Contact:
Anne Marie Fields
Managing Director
Precision AQ (formerly known as Stern Investor Relations)
annemarie.fields@precisionaq.com
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