Stockholm, Sweden — Medivir AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: MVIR), a pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for cancer in areas of high unmet medical need, announced today that Pia Baumann has been recruited as its new Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Her role includes overall responsibility for the continued clinical development of the candidate drug fostroxacitabine bralpamide (fostrox). She will be part of the company's management team and will take up her position on February 20, 2023.
Pia Baumann, who is an MD specialized in oncology and earned her Ph.D. at Karolinska Institute, has substantial experience in drug development in the cancer field. Her experience comes from many years of clinical work at Karolinska Hospital and larger pharmaceutical companies as well as smaller biotech companies where she has developed global product strategies as well as designed and conducted clinical studies in close collaboration with leading clinics. Pia most recently held a position at AstraZeneca as Vice President Medical with global responsibility for the company’s Tagrisso and Lung Cancer franchise. Before that, she held leading, global positions in cancer drug development at Takeda, Incyte and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals.
- I am very pleased that we managed to attract Pia to assume the position as Chief Medical Officer. Her experience in global drug development as well as interaction and cooperation with regulatory authorities, especially in the USA and Japan, will be very important for the continued clinical development of fostrox. In addition, her broad leadership experience from both large and small organizations as well as experience in interacting with the financial market will be of great value to the company,” says Jens Lindberg, CEO at Medivir AB.
- I would also like to thank our interim CMO Tom Morris for his commendable work as a consultant to Medivir in the development of fostrox, which has the potential to become the first orally administered and liver-targeted drug for patients with HCC and other forms of liver cancer. We will work together to ensure a smooth transition in connection with Pia's accession,” Jens Lindberg continues.
For additional information, please contact
Magnus Christensen, CFO, Medivir AB
Telephone: +46 8 5468 3100
E-mail: magnus.christensen@medivir.com
Medivir in brief
Medivir develops innovative drugs with a focus on cancer where the unmet medical needs are high. The drug candidates are directed toward indication areas where available therapies are limited or missing and there are great opportunities to offer significant improvements to patients. Medivir is focusing on the development of fostroxacitabine bralpamide (fostrox), a pro-drug designed to selectively treat liver cancer cells and to minimize side effects. Collaborations and partnerships are important parts of Medivir’s business model, and the drug development is conducted either by Medivir or in partnership. Birinapant, a SMAC mimetic, is exclusively outlicensed to IGM Biosciences (Nasdaq: IGMS) to be developed in combination with IGM-antibodies for the treatment of solid tumors. Medivir’s share (ticker: MVIR) is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm’s Small Cap list. www.medivir.com.