Longeveron Announces Key Additions To Its Leadership Team And Board As It Gears Up For Phase 2 Trials For Its Lead Drug Candidate For Several Conditions

Longeveron, Inc. LGVN is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on therapies for age-related and life-threatening diseases. Longeveron’s primary drug is  Lomecel-B™, which is being developed as a potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease, Aging-Frailty, and a rare pediatric disease, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).

After almost a decade of research and development (R&D) and collecting safety and efficacy data, the Company is initiating additional phase 2 trials for Lomecel-B™ as a potential treatment for these indications.  To help the Company with its continued growth and development, the Company has brought on additional experienced leaders to its board and leadership team. These leaders bring a wealth of expertise in drug development, regulatory filing and product commercialization.

Longeveron believes that its recent appointments should inspire even greater confidence in its investors as the Company advances its trials for Lomecel-B™.

CEO And Board Member Appointments 

In March 2023, Longeveron appointed Wa’el Hashad as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Hashad brings over three decades of experience in global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies like Amgen AMGN and Eli Lilly and Company LLY, and he has been involved in drug development, mergers and acquisitions and product commercialization. Before joining Longeveron, Hashad spent six years as CEO of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw the company’s integration with Otsuka.

“I am honored to join Longeveron as CEO,” said Hashad. “With its robust clinical pipeline, Longeveron is well-positioned as a leader in regenerative medicines. I look forward to working with the Board, management, and the broader Longeveron team to continue the impressive progress to date and advance  Lomecel-B™ as a potential therapy across multiple disease areas.” 

Hashad was recently appointed to Longeveron’s Board of Directors, along with prominent biotechnology and corporate management experts Khoso Baluch and Jeffrey Pfeffer. Baluch has 36 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has held positions at multiple companies including Eli Lilly and CorMedix Inc. and is currently chairman of the board for Poxel SA. Pfeffer also brings extensive management experience to Longeveron as a current and previous board member of more than 10 companies. He is also a respected organizational expert, authoring or co-authoring more than 16 books and serving as a professor at Stanford University Graduate School of Business since the late 1970s.

Other Team Appointments

The Company also announced two other major additions to its leadership team in the past month. On July 11, 2023, Longeveron appointed Nataliya Agafonova, M.D., as the Company’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Agafonova has spent time at a range of high-profile companies and her cross-therapeutic expertise has contributed to multiple drugs being brought to market. She is heading up Longeveron’s global clinical development and spearheading its regulatory strategy for its investigational products.

Most recently, the company appointed Lisa Locklear as Longeveron’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective as of July 31, 2023. Locklear has held a broad array of senior financial roles across the healthcare and other industry sectors and currently serves as a board member for several institutions and is a part of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). 

The Company believes these appointments put Longeveron in an even stronger position as it focuses on advancing its pipeline for  Lomecel-B™.  Lomecel-B™ is developed from the bone marrow of young and healthy adult donors into an allogeneic medicinal signaling cell (MSC) therapy product to address multiple diseases. 

Follow the latest developments from Longeveron by visiting its website. 

Featured photo by Werner Pfennig on Pexels. 

This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.