PK MED Strengthens Governance with Gene Therapy Pioneers Ahead of Phase 2 Gout Trial
核心洞察
PK MED (搜索) appoints François Romaneix as Chairman and adds gene therapy pioneer Prof. Philippe Leboulch to its Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board.
Prof. Alain Fischer, internationally renowned immunologist and former President of the French Academy of Sciences, becomes Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board.
The governance strengthening supports ARTHRELIS (搜索)'s upcoming direct entry into Phase 2 for refractory gout (搜索) flares following FDA regulatory discussions.
PK MED (搜索), a French biotechnology company developing therapeutic micro-implants for local drug delivery, has announced a significant strengthening of its Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board. The governance overhaul comes as the company prepares for the Phase 2 entry of its lead candidate ARTHRELIS (搜索) for the treatment of gout (搜索) flares and accelerates preclinical development of ENGRAFTIS (搜索), a first-in-class program targeting poor graft function following bone marrow transplantation.
François Romaneix, Senior Partner at Truffle Capital (搜索) and former CEO of the French National Authority for Health (HAS), has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors. Romaneix brings strategic vision for market access and healthcare corporate governance, having also served as Deputy CEO of the Institut Pasteur.
"I am honored to join the Board of Directors of PK MED (搜索) as Chairman, especially at a time when, in addition to the members already serving on the Board and the Scientific Advisory Board, we are welcoming such eminent figures from the healthcare, biotechnology, and medical research sectors into our governance bodies," Romaneix stated. "Their complementary expertise in clinical and industrial development, drug delivery, and gene therapy are major assets that will support ARTHRELIS (搜索)'s upcoming entry into a Phase 2 trial and accelerate the development of ENGRAFTIS (搜索)."
Gene Therapy Expertise Joins the Board
Prof. Philippe Leboulch, MD, a physician-scientist and pioneer in gene therapy, joins both the Board of Directors and the Scientific Advisory Board. A faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Medicine at Université Paris-Saclay, Leboulch co-founded bluebird bio/Genetix Biotherapeutics, which at its peak reached a valuation of nearly $10 billion in 2018. He played a pioneering role in the design and clinical validation of the first gene therapies.
Two additional members join the Board: Isabelle Buckle, PhD, who brings more than three decades of international leadership experience in life sciences, including her role as Executive Vice President for Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnerships at the Institut Pasteur; and Tom Tice, PhD, Senior Director of Global Strategic and Technical Marketing at Evonik Corporation, internationally recognized for his expertise in complex parenteral drug delivery and sustained-release formulations based on bioabsorbable polymers.
Scientific Advisory Board Leadership
Prof. Alain Fischer, MD, PhD, assumes the role of Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. An internationally renowned immunologist, gene therapy pioneer, Professor at the Collège de France, and former President of the French Academy of Sciences, Fischer provides unique expertise particularly relevant to the ENGRAFTIS (搜索) program. The Scientific Advisory Board also includes Prof. Marie-Christophe Boissier, Prof. Daniel Hayoz, Prof. Geraldine McCarthy, Prof. Tuhina Neogi, and Prof. Tristan Pascart.
Pipeline Acceleration and Strategic Milestones
PK MED (搜索)'s proprietary platform transforms established active ingredients into patented local therapies via injectable micro-implants, designed to maximize efficacy and safety by concentrating drug release directly at the targeted tissue while minimizing systemic exposure.
For ARTHRELIS (搜索), regulatory discussions with the FDA have paved the way for direct entry into Phase 2 and validated the clinical trial protocol. The company is actively preparing the IND filing and trial initiation, with a goal of delivering Phase 2 clinical results and securing a strategic licensing or M&A deal by 2028.
ENGRAFTIS (搜索), described as a first-in-class artificial bone marrow niche designed to treat graft dysfunction, has validated its initial in vitro and in vivo proofs of concept. PK MED (搜索) aims to consolidate preclinical development toward potential strategic partnerships by 2027.
Founded in 2019 by Truffle Capital (搜索) — the European BioMedTech leader also behind Abivax and Carvolix — PK MED (搜索) is building a preclinical pipeline addressing major unmet medical needs, starting with gout (搜索) flares and bone marrow transplantation.