CANTERBURY, UK, June 8, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ziarco Group Ltd., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on inflammatory skin diseases, today announced the appointment of Pablo Jimenez, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Jimenez will oversee the clinical development of Ziarco's programs targeting conditions such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Jimenez as our Chief Medical Officer," said Mike Yeadon, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Ziarco. "Dr. Jimenez has an impressive track record as both a physician and a senior pharmaceutical executive. His clinical development and regulatory affairs expertise will be very important as we advance our lead compounds, ZPL-389 and ZPL-521, through clinical studies. Furthermore, his deep knowledge of dermatology significantly strengthens the Ziarco team, complementing our existing R&D and mechanism expertise."
Dr. Jimenez brings to Ziarco more than 20 years of clinical development and medical affairs experience in therapeutic areas including dermatology, respiratory, and wound healing. Most recently, he served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President at Celsus Therapeutics Plc, where he led global clinical development of the company's pipeline of inflammatory disease therapies. Previously, he served as Chief Medical Officer of Sotio, a Czech drug development company. From 2001 to 2011, Dr. Jimenez held various roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, including Global Product Medical Director of Xolair® and Medical Affairs Head of Elidel®. Earlier in his career, he held positions at Neuronyx, Inc., Human Genome Sciences, Inc., and OsteoArthritis Sciences, Inc.
"I am excited to work with the Ziarco team to help advance important therapies for inflammatory skin diseases through clinical development," said Dr. Jimenez. "Despite recent therapeutic innovations, there remain substantial unmet needs in conditions like psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, and Ziarco's approach to developing novel, differentiated, small molecule oral and topical treatments for patients shows great promise."
Dr. Jimenez earned an M.D. from the Central University School of Medicine in Quito, Ecuador. He completed his post-doctoral research at Brown University, RI USA, Division of Biology and Medicine.
About Ziarco
Ziarco is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative therapeutics targeting inflammatory skin diseases. The company's lead compounds are ZPL-389, an oral histamine H4 receptor antagonist being studied for atopic dermatitis, and ZPL-521, a cPLA2 inhibitor being studied for inflammatory skin disease. Ziarco investors include Biotechnology Value Fund L.P. and other affiliates of BVF Partners L.P., Pfizer Venture Investments, New Enterprise Associates, Lundbeckfond Ventures and Amgen Ventures.
Further information can be found at www.ziarcopharma.com.