Brings more than 15 years of CNS drug discovery and development experience
Copenhagen, Denmark and Boston, US, 1st November 2021 – Muna Therapeutics (“Muna”), pioneering the development of novel, first-in-class small molecule therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, today announces the appointment of Dr. Niels Plath as Chief Scientific Officer.
Dr. Plath is a molecular biologist and neuroscientist with more than 15 years of experience in academia and biopharma. He was previously the acting Head of Global Research at Lundbeck, leading drug discovery and development for neurologic and psychiatric diseases. Prior to this role, Dr. Plath was Vice President for Neuroscience, leading teams that brought several drug candidates into clinical development, including alpha-synuclein and tau targeting antibodies, idalopirdine and Nalmefene.
Rita Balice-Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of Muna Therapeutics, said: “We are delighted to welcome Niels as Muna’s Chief Scientific Officer. He shares our commitment to discover and develop disease modifying therapeutics to address the staggering unmet need experienced by patients with neurodegenerative disorders around the world.”
Henrijette Richter, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, said: “Niels has broad biopharma R&D experience that will be invaluable as Muna continues to progress its innovative pipeline of potential disease-modifying medicines for neurodegenerative diseases. We are very pleased to be supporting Muna’s world-class global team.”
Dr. Niels Plath, Chief Scientific Officer of Muna Therapeutics, said: “I’m excited to be joining Muna Therapeutics to further develop its promising, cutting-edge pipeline of neurodegenerative disease therapeutics. I’m looking forward to working with this stellar team to advance promising treatments for patients to significantly improve their quality of life.”
Dr. Plath obtained a PhD in Neuroscience from the Free University of Berlin, Germany, focusing on the role of immediate early genes in neuronal plasticity, learning and memory. Following a postdoctoral fellowship supported by the Human Frontier Science Program, he joined biopharma in 2005 to pursue research and development of treatments for patients with CNS disorders. Dr. Plath has authored many scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, is a guest lecturer in Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen and has given numerous conference talks at meetings around the world.
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Muna Therapeutics
Rita Balice-Gordon, CEO
Email: balicegordon@munatherapeutics.com
Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark, Stella Lempidaki, Zoe Bolt
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3922 1906
Email: muna@optimumcomms.com
About Muna Therapeutics
Muna Therapeutics is a private biopharmaceutical company founded in 2020 and based in Copenhagen, Denmark and Leuven, Belgium. Muna discovers and develops therapies that slow or stop devastating neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Frontotemporal Dementia and Parkinson’s. These disorders impact memory, movement, language, behavior and personality resulting in disability and death of millions of patients around the globe. We focus our groundbreaking science on identifying new medicines to preserve cognition and other brain functions and enhance resilience to neurodegenerative diseases. Our name reflects this focus: Muna means ‘to remember’ in Old Norse. www.munatherapeutics.com