Cereno Scientific announces new Executive Management Team
Cereno Scientific (Nasdaq First North: CRNO B) today announced that they have expanded the Executive Management Team to include the newly appointed Chief Medical Officer & Head of Research & Development, Rahul Agrawal, and the Business Development Director, Julia Fransson, to strengthen focus on the strategic priorities in development programs of lead candidate drug CS1 in PAH, and CS014 in thrombosis prevention and CS585 in not yet decided cardiovascular indication.
The Executive Management Team now includes:
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Sten R. Sörensen
- Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) – Dr. Björn Dahlöf
- Chief Medical Officer (CMO) & Head Research & Development – Dr. Rahul Agrawal
- Head of Preclinical Development – Nicholas Oakes
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO) – Eva Jagenheim
- Director Business Development – Julia Fransson
Chief Executive Officer, Sten R. Sörensen, has extensive experience from the pharmaceutical, biotech, and finance industries. Before working at Cereno he was Head of International Marketing Operations at Monsanto (GD Searle) and Global Marketing Director for Secondary Prevention Products, Cardiovasculars at AstraZeneca. Sten has previously initiated two groundbreaking preventive survival studies in heart failure: MERIT-HF and RALES and led them to global commercial success.
Chief Scientific Officer, Björn Dahlöf, has for many years been an adviser to small and large pharmaceutical companies regarding drug development in all phases from preclinical development to larger lifecycle management studies after registration. Björn Dahlöf has extensive experience in cardiovascular research, pharmacology, drug development, and clinical trials (all phases) and has lectured in these areas internationally. He has also initiated and led several major national and multinational mortality and morbidity studies that have had significance for guidelines in cardiovascular prevention and authored over 400 scientific publications.
Chief Medical Officer & Head Research & Development, Dr. Rahul Agrawal, is an experienced senior executive leader with a diverse background spanning Big Pharma and biotech, from companies such as Astra Zeneca and Bayer Healthcare. His expertise encompasses the entire value chain including R&D, Medical Affairs, commercial and strategy experience across various therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, renal, respiratory, and rare/orphan drugs and he has launched seven drugs globally.
Head of Preclinical Development, Nicholas Oakes, has more than 20 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry with both efficacy and safety-related aspects of preclinical research to discover and develop new effective and safe medicines in metabolic, cardiovascular, and renal disease areas.
Chief Financial Officer, Eva Jagenheim, has a broad experience of various roles within finance. Previous experience includes working as an accountant at PWC, consultant at the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, and at companies of varying sizes across several different industries. She most recently worked as CFO at RLS Global, a medtech company listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market.
Director Business Development, Julia Fransson, is an experienced business development professional in the life science industry. She is skilled in crafting strong and focused strategies, translating key scientific and market insights toward investors and partners as well as business modelling market analysis and biotech asset valuation. Previous roles include management positions within developing technology companies as well as, most recently, heading up a boutique life science strategy advisory firm.
"I’m very happy to welcome Rahul Agrawal and Julia Fransson as part of the Executive Management Team at Cereno Scientific. We are in an exciting phase of our growth journey, which intensifies with the recent Expanded Access approval by the FDA for our lead candidate drug CS1 in PAH”, said CEO Sten R. Sörensen.
Cereno Scientific has three programs in its development pipeline; lead candidate drug CS1 in phase II in orphan disease PAH which is expected to deliver top line study results by Q2 this year, that recently was granted approval by the FDA for Expanded Access; and two promising preclinical drug candidates in development through research collaborations with the University of Michigan (CS014 - a HDAC inhibitor in development as a treatment for arterial and venous thrombosis prevention and CS585 - a prostacyclin receptor agonist that has been documented in several preclinical studies to target the IP receptor for prevention of thrombosis without increased risk of bleeding.
For further information, please contact:
Henrik Westdahl, Director IR & Communications
Email: henrik.westdahl@cerenoscientific.com
Phone: +46 708 17 59 96
Sten R. Sörensen, CEO
Email: sten.sorensen@cerenoscientific.com
Phone: +46 73-374 03 74
About Cereno Scientific AB
Cereno Scientific develops innovative treatments for common and rare cardiovascular disease. The lead drug candidate, CS1, is a HDAC (histone deacetylase) inhibitor that acts as an epigenetic modulator with pressure-reducing, reverse-remodeling, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and anti-thrombotic properties. A Phase II study is ongoing to evaluate CS1’s safety, tolerability, and efficacy in patients with the rare disease pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). A collaboration agreement with global healthcare company Abbott allows Cereno to use their cutting-edge technology CardioMEMS HF System in the study. Two initiatives performed during the ongoing Phase II study have shown positive findings suggesting the potential clinical benefit of CS1 in PAH patients. These initial findings are, however, not a guarantee of the final study results that are expected in Q2 2024. Since January 2024, CS1 has been available under FDA’s Expanded Access Program (“compassionate use”) for continued CS1 treatment in patients who have completed the Phase II study. Cereno also has two promising preclinical drug candidates in development through research collaborations with the University of Michigan. Investigational drug CS014 is a HDAC inhibitor in development as a treatment for arterial and venous thrombosis prevention. The innovative drug candidate represents a groundbreaking approach to antithrombotic treatment potentially without the associated increased risk of bleeding in humans. CS014 is a new chemical entity with a multi-fold mechanism of action as an epigenetic modulator – regulating platelet activity, fibrinolysis, and clot stability for the prevention of thrombosis without increased risk of bleeding as documented in preclinical studies. Drug candidate CS585 is a prostacyclin receptor agonist that has been documented in several preclinical studies to target the IP receptor for prevention of thrombosis without increased risk of bleeding, which also has been recognized in the medical community. CS585 was in-licensed from the University of Michigan in 2023. The company is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and has a US subsidiary Cereno Scientific Inc. based in Kendall Square in Boston, Massachusetts, US. Cereno is listed on the Nasdaq First North (CRNO B). More information on www.cerenoscientific.com.
