HONG KONG, Germantown, Md. and Suzhou, China, Dec. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sirnaomics Ltd. (the "Company"; stock code: 2257, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group" or "Sirnaomics"), a leading biopharmaceutical company engaging in discovery and development of advanced RNAi therapeutics, today announced the promotion of Dr. Francois Lebel, M.D., to Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Lebel enters this new role after serving as Senior Vice President for preclinical and clinical development since July 2023.
As part of Dr. Lebel's new leadership role, he will oversee the clinical development of Sirnaomics' lead therapeutic candidate, STP705, for the treatment of Squamous Cell Carcinoma in situ, a form of non-melanoma skin cancer. STP705 is currently in a Phase II clinical trial that is moving into a confirmatory study for late-stage development.
"With his impressive track record in novel drug product marketing approvals, Dr. Lebel is well suited to lead our pipeline of clinical-stage and pre-clinical RNAi-based treatments through the drug development process," said Dr. Patrick Lu, Founder, Chairman of the Board, Executive Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Sirnaomics. "His continued senior leadership at Sirnaomics will enrich our ability to advance several leading candidates for a number of indications through global late-stage product development."
"I am honored to lead Sirnaomics' RNAi pipeline through clinical development, building upon my experiences with the Company, and with outside investigators and international regulatory bodies, I hope my experiences of successfully achieving eight product marketing approvals will bring Sirnaomics to the commercial stage," said Dr. Lebel, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Sirnaomics.
Dr. Lebel is a strategic leader with broad drug development experience including immuno-oncology and nucleic acid therapeutics. Throughout his 30-year strong biopharma industry career with Baxter, Medimmune, Chiron and others, Dr. Lebel has designed and managed international research programs and development organizations. His most recent senior leadership roles include Executive Vice President for Research & Development and Chief Medical Officer Spectrum, where he was responsible for Preclinical and Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance/Drug Safety. His commitment to quality and speed of execution resulted in another novel drug product marketing authorization at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Q4 2022.
Dr. Lebel received his bachelor's degree in molecular biology and a medical degree from the University of Ottawa, Canada, completing his post-graduate training at McGill University and Harvard Medical School. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada.
About Sirnaomics (stock code: 2257)
Sirnaomics is an RNA therapeutics biopharmaceutical company with product candidates in preclinical and clinical stages that focuses on the discovery and development of innovative drugs for indications with medical needs and large market opportunities. Sirnaomics is the first clinical-stage RNA therapeutics company to have a strong presence in both Asia and the United States. Based on its proprietary delivery technologies: Polypeptide Nanoparticle Formulation and the 2nd generation of GalNAc conjugation, the Group has established an enriched drug candidate pipeline. Sirnaomics is currently holding a leadership position on advancing RNAi therapeutics for oncology application with multiple successes of its clinical programs for STP705 and STP707. STP122G represents the first drug candidate of GalAhead™ technology entering clinical development. With the establishment of the Group's manufacturing facility, Sirnaomics currently is undergoing a transition from a biotech company to a biopharma corporation. Learn more at: www.sirnaomics.com.
