Tranzyme Pharma, a leading biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) and metabolic diseases, has appointed Dr Helmut Thomas as the company's Senior Vice President of Research and Preclinical Development. In this position, he will assume primary responsibility for Tranzyme's discovery research and early stage development efforts.
Dr Thomas is a highly accomplished biochemist and toxicologist with an extensive and productive career in drug discovery and development. He began his career with CIBA-GEIGY in Basel, Switzerland in 1990 and became the Head of Preclinical Safety and Toxicology at CIBA-GEIGY Pharmaceuticals UK in 1994.
Following the merger with Sandoz in 1997, Dr Thomas spent the next eight years with Novartis Pharma, where he held several top-level management positions in Europe and the US, culminating in his appointment as executive director, Global Project Manager and Leader of the PRIDE (Proof of Research In Development) Team Oncology in East Hanover, NJ. While at Novartis, he directed the preclinical development of more than 25 drug candidates, including such important marketed drugs as Diovan for hypertension and Gleevec for chronic myeloid leukaemia.
He joins Tranzyme from LymphoSign Inc., where he has served as vice president, Research and Development since 2004. Dr Thomas received his Ph.D in biochemistry and organic chemistry from the University of Hannover, Germany. He is an author of over 130 scientific articles, book chapters and abstracts as well as a co-inventor on numerous patents.
Dr Vipin K Garg, president and CEO of Tranzyme Pharma, said, "His extensive experience in preclinical and early clinical development will be valuable in rapidly advancing our pipeline of potential product candidates to proof-of-concept."
"After having just completed their first Phase I trial, this is a very exciting time for me to join Tranzyme Pharma," added Dr Thomas. "The potential of the company's unique and innovative chemistry technology, which has already proven its ability to generate multiple first-in-class products, was a major attraction. I look forward to leveraging this technology to quickly identify additional drug candidates."
Tranzyme Pharma is a clinical-stage company developing small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) and metabolic diseases. The Company's candidate drugs originate from its own discovery pipeline of proprietary compounds with high potency and selectivity for validated and druggable targets. Tranzyme is developing first-in-class, mechanism-based therapeutics for post-operative ileus (POI), gastroparesis, obesity, diabetes and functional GI disorders.