Minoryx Therapeutics, a drug development company based in Barcelona, Spain, and a specialist in the discovery of new drugs for orphan diseases, has named Dr Uwe Meya as Chief Medical Officer.
Dr Meya is a neurologist and psychiatrist with more than 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development, with a special focus on central nervous system (CNS) disorders. He has expertise in all aspects of drug development from first-in-man trials to regulatory filing.
'We are delighted to welcome Dr Meya as our CMO,' said Marc Martinell, CEO of Minoryx Therapeutics. 'His wealth of expertise in CNS-related research will help us significantly in moving forward the clinical development of our lead candidate MIN-102. He will also support the further development of our pipeline in orphan diseases.'
Minoryx Therapeutics’ MIN-102 is ready to initiate a Phase I study. It targets the most prevalent peroxisomal disorder, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD). MIN-102 is a differentiated PPAR gamma agonist with a superior profile for CNS related diseases. The firm says it has achieved a robust proof of concept in animal models.
Dr Meya joins Minoryx Therapeutics from Lupin Atlantis Holdings, where he was responsible for clinical strategy and implementation of studies with new clinical entities in various indications, including neurodegenerative disorders.
Earlier, Dr Meya led Phase I and Phase II clinical studies in neurodegenerative disorders at Synosia Therapeutics, which was later acquired by Biotie Therapies. Prior to this, he was head of research portfolio management as well as serving as clinical research and licensing liaison manager in CNS at Roche. Before that, Dr Meya managed a team of researchers in CNS clinical development at Novartis, having previously held the positions of head of clinical development in CNS at Knoll and medical advisor/head of clinical psychiatry at Schering.
Dr Meya received his medical degree as well as his doctorate in psychiatry from the University of Aachen (Germany).