Next generation therapies
Find Therapeutics is clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of next generation therapies to treat inflammatory autoimmune diseases. The company was launched in 2020 and is supported with investments from CTI Life Sciences, adMare BioInnovations, Domain Therapeutics and Investissment Québec and an exclusive license from SATT-Conectus and the University of Strasbourg on a technology and related know-how.
Management
Robert Glanzman, MD, FAAN
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Robert Glanzman is a board-certified neurologist and Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology with over 20 years experience in neuroscience-related clinical development. Dr. Glanzman received his doctorate in medicine from Wake Forest University, trained in neurology at the University of Michigan and completed a fellowship in diagnostic nuclear medicine/PET imaging at Duke University.
Prior to joining industry, he held an appointment as Associate Clinical Professor of Neurology at Michigan State University. Since joining industry in 1999, Dr. Glanzman has held leadership roles at Pfizer, Novartis and Roche. While at Novartis he led the US, Phase 3 development of fingolimid (Gilenya®) for people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), and while at Roche he designed and led the global Phase 3 development program for ocrelizumab (Ocrevus®) for people with both relapsing and primary progressive MS.
Over the past 10 years, Dr. Glanzman has served as Chief Medical Officer at biotechnology companies including Clene Nanomedicine, where he led a novel Phase 2 study in people with MS suffering from chronic optic neuropathy. Dr. Glanzman has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications.
Violetta Dimitriadou, PhD
Vice President of Preclinical and Clinical Operations
Over the last 25 years, Violetta has specialized in drug development at various biotechnology companies, where she was responsible for research and development programs and the preclinical and clinical development of new chemical entities. More recently, as Vice President of Drug Development at GLyPharma Therapeutics, she was in charge of the apraglutide development program that was awarded the “orphan drug” designation by the EMA and FDA and is currently in advanced clinical studies. She also has extensive expertise in setting up and monitoring collaborations with research institutes and pharmaceutical companies and has overseen large groups of scientists and technicians.
She holds a PhD in Neurosciences/Cytology from l’Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris, France) and completed a two-year fellowship at Tufts University (Boston, MA) in the Neuropharmacology Department. She began her professional career in academic education and basic research and held the position of Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy at René Descartes University (Paris, France). She has over 100 scientific publications and presentations.
Key Strategic Advisor
Dominique Bagnard, PhD
Strategic Scientific Advisor
Dr. Dominique Bagnard is the inventor of Find Therapeutics’ myelin repair technology. As a key strategic advisor to Find Dr. Bagnard helps shape our scientific and development strategy.
Expert in neurobiology, brain diseases and neuro-oncology he is professor at the University of Strasbourg, Director of Research (Medalis Director) of the Strasbourg Institute for Drug Design and Drug Development (IMS) and Dean of the engineering school ESBS (Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg). Since 2003, Dr. Bagnard has directed the INSERM research group dedicated to the Biopathology of myelin, neuroprotection and therapeutic strategies. His research interests include disorders and injury of the nervous system, Inflammatory diseases, infections & neuroinflammatory conditions, demyelinating disorders, multiple sclerosis, neurogenesis, neuroprotection and brain repair.
He is the founder and Editor in Chief of the international journal Cell Adhesion and Migration (tandfonline.com/kcam20 ). Dr. Bagnard’s passion is tech transfer having founded two startup companies Peptimimesis Pharma and Adaptherapy created from his research.
Board of Directors
Paul Truex, MBA
Chairman of the Board
Mr. Truex is the Chairman and CEO of Thryv Therapeutics. Over the course of two decades he has been involved in over $5 billion of life science financings and strategic transactions. His recent experience includes initial public offerings for Milestone (Board Member 2019), Trius (Board Member 2010), Anthera (CEO 2010), Peninsula (CEO 2004), and Versicor (Vice President 2000).
Prior to Thryv, Mr. Truex founded Anthera Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biotech company with large clinical programs in cardiovascular disease, lupus, inflammation and cystic fibrosis. Mr. Truex was Founder, President and CEO of Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, an antibiotic development company that was acquired by Johnson and Johnson and Forest for more than $700 million. Mr. Truex began his life science career at Eli Lilly and Company where his business development experience included the Lilly ICOS joint venture for the development of Cialis® and several successful out-licensing programs. He obtained his MBA from Indiana University and a BA in Economics from the University of Waterloo. Mr. Truex currently serves on the Board of Directors for Feldan and Anthera (ANTH). He is an Acting Board Member of the Indiana University Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of Milestone Pharmaceuticals (MIST), Trius (TSRX), CymaBay (CBAY), Eiger (EIGR), Protagonist (PTGX), and Peninsula Pharmaceuticals.
Laurence Rulleau, PhD
Director
Dr. Laurence Terrisse Rulleau is a partner at CTI Life Sciences Fund, a Montreal-based venture capital fund investing across Canada as well as in the U.S. CTI LSF currently has $245 M under management; comprised of 2014 vintage Fund II that is open for investment as well as a 2006 vintage Fund I. Since joining CTI LSF in 2014, Dr. Rulleau has played a critical role in each of the investments made by the fund but particularly in the creation of 3 new companies in Quebec: Dalcor, a spin-off of Montreal Heart Institute; Ilkos a spin-off from Servier and Precithera based on innovative science. Dr. Rulleau also lead the investment made in Profound Medical and is a board observer in Visterra, a Boston-based biotechnology company.
Dr. Rulleau is very active in the Canadian life science community and is a board director of Liphorus a spin-off from Montreal clinical Institute, formerly board member of The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) in Vancouver as well as being acting chairwomen of Neomed Institute and Neomed Labs, now board member of adMare BioInnovations. Prior to joining CTI LSF in 2014, Dr Rulleau served as a life sciences analyst covering the Canadian life sciences sector for more than 10 years and in her experience as an analyst, she researched over 100 life sciences companies with scientific due diligence on these companies as well as market analysis and competition assessment.
Dr. Rulleau was ranked the number one Canadian life sciences analyst by the Starmine survey (a Thomson Reuters Company) and number one independent analyst by Brendon Wood survey. Dr. Rulleau was involved in numerous mergers and acquisitions as well as IPOs. Dr. Rulleau was also CEO of HLA-G Technologies a biotechnology start-up based in France and more recently she served as Vice-President Business Development of Univalor, the technology transfer office of Montreal’s university and affiliated schools. Under her responsibility at Univalor in the last 3 years, more than 55 licenses with the industry were signed and 8 companies started.
Dr. Rulleau has a master’s in biology from The Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) and a Ph.D. from Montreal University executed at Montreal Clinical Research Institute.
Frédéric Lemaître Auger, PhD, MBA
Director and chairman of audit committee
Frédéric is Managing Partner, Investments, at adMare BioInnovations. He has extensive health sciences venture capital expertise through prior involvement with Accel-Rx, MSBiV, Desjardins Venture Capital and CDP Capital – Technology Venture (Sofinov), where he was involved in both biopharmaceutical and medical device deals. At Sofinov, he was involved in investments such as NuVasive, Inhibitex, IntraLuminal Therapeutics, Acurian, and TransMedics. While at Desjardins, he showed significant leadership in the creation and management of a profitable early-stage health sciences investment portfolio that included, amongst others, BioAxone Therapeutics, Enobia Pharma, and Tranzyme. At MSBiV, he was involved in project-based investments, as well as developing licensing and spin-off opportunities. In recent years, Frédéric led investment activities at Accel-Rx where he built a solid portfolio of early-stage health sciences companies, that notably includes Inversago Pharma, KisoJi Biotechnology and SoundBite Medical Solutions.
Frédéric holds an MBA in Finance and International Management from HEC Montréal, a M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Polymer Physical Chemistry, both from Université de Montréal.
Clinical Advisory Board
Jack Antel, MD
Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University
Dr. Antel is a clinical neurologist who coordinates the multiple sclerosis research and treatment program at the Montreal Neurological Institute. He has served as President of the International Society of Neuroimmunology, president of ACTRIMS, Scientific Director of the endMS Research and Training Network supported by the MS Society of Canada, and as Editor for the Americas of the Multiple Sclerosis Journal.
His research interests include understanding the mechanisms of tissue injury and repair that occur in MS and how these can be therapeutically targeted. He received the 2005 Dystel Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Academy of Neurology.
Douglas Arnold, MD
Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University Montréal, Québec, Canada
Jeffrey Cohen, MD
CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COLLEGE OF MEDICINE CLEVELAND, OHIO
Dr. Cohen is Professor of Neurology in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and holds the Hazel Prior Hostetler Endowed Chair. He received a BA from Connecticut College in 1976 and MD from the University of Chicago School of Medicine in 1980. He completed a Neurology Residency in 1984 then a Post-doctoral Research Fellowship in Neuroimmunology in 1987, both at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cohen has worked at Cleveland Clinic’s Mellen Center for MS since 1994 and was Director 2014-2017. He currently is Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program and the Clinical Neuroimmunology Fellowship.
Dr. Cohen has published extensively on clinical, immunologic, imaging, and therapeutic aspects of MS. He has had a leadership role in a large number of clinical trials of potential therapies for MS, translational studies, studies to validate outcome measures, and observational studies. He recently served as Chair of the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in MS and Co-Chair of the International Panel on Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis which developed the 2017 McDonald Diagnostic Criteria. He was President of ACTRIMS 2019-2022.
Jérôme De Sèze, MD, PhD
University of Strasbourg, Department of Neuroimmunology Strasbourg, France
Professor de Sèze is a professor in neurology and head of the neuroimmunological department at the University Hospital of Strasbourg. He has a PhD in immunology and is a specialist in multiple sclerosis and neuro-ophthalmology as well as head of the clinical investigation centre at the same University where he oversees phase I to III trials predominantly in the field of neurology.
Professor de Sèze’s research interests include biopathology of myelin, imaging of animal models for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system and evaluation of new therapeutic targets in these animal models.
In 2007, Professor de Sèze founded the “alSacEP”, a network to improve the provision of MS care in the French region of Alsace. He is the Past President of the French Multiple Sclerosis society.
Mark S. Freedman, MD
UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA AND THE OTTAWA HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA
Mark Freedman is Professor of Medicine (Neurology) at the University of Ottawa, Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Unit at the Ottawa Hospital-General Campus.
Dr. Freedman conducts extensive research in molecular neurochemistry, cellular immunology, and clinical studies in MS. His basic science interest concerns immune mechanisms of damage in MS, with a particular interest in the role of the innate immune system such as gamma-delta T-cells. His main clinical interests are cell-based therapies for MS. He was the lead investigator of the Canadian Bone Marrow Transplant Study in MS and he co-headed an international study of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of MS. He is the current President of ACTRIMS.
Maria Pia Sormani, PhD
University of Genoa, Italy
Dr. Sormani is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Genoa, Italy. She received her Masters in Medical Biostatistics at the University of Milan, her Master in Medical Physics at the University of Pisa, and her PhD degree in Bio-Physics at the University of Genoa in Italy. She has a background in Oncology, but her main field of Research is in Multiple Sclerosis. She collaborated for more than ten years with the Neuroimaging Research Unit at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, studying the methodological issues related to the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis. She is now faculty member at the University of Genoa, where she teaches Biostatistics and Research Methods to students in medicine.
She serves on the US Multiple Sclerosis National Society Clinical Trials Advisory Committee, in the Multiple Sclerosis Outcome Assessment Consortium (MSOAC), is on the Editorial Board of Multiple Sclerosis Journal and has published more than 470 papers in peer reviewed journals, mostly on MS.
Scientific Advisory Board
Michel Bouvier, PhD
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, IRIC | UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC, CANADA
Michel Bouvier is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine, Executive Director of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, and Canada Research Chair in Cellular Signaling and Molecular Pharmacology from 2001-2022. He began his academic career after earning a PhD in neurological sciences from the University of Montreal and completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University under the direction of 2012 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Dr. R. J. Lefkowitz. His work has led to pharmacological concepts that have enabled the development of new classes of drugs.
In 2014, Michel Bouvier was in the top percentile of most cited scientists internationally according to Thomson Reuters. He was the recipient of the Killam Prize in Life Sciences in 2021 and received the National Order of Québec in 2022. Dr. Bouvier was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada in 2014.