COUR Pharmaceuticals Appoints Paul M. Peloso, MD, as Chief Medical Officer
21 Mayo 2024 - 7:00AM
COUR Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company
focused on the development of first-in-class, disease-modifying
therapies designed to induce antigen-specific tolerance for
immune-mediated diseases, today announced the appointment of Paul
M. Peloso, MD, a seasoned drug developer with more than 20 years of
experience advancing multiple therapeutic candidates through market
approval, as chief medical officer.
Prior to joining COUR, Dr. Peloso served as Chief
Medical Officer for ACELYRIN, Inc., a biopharma company focused on
providing life-changing new treatment options for patients by
employing a strategy of identifying, acquiring and accelerating
development and commercialization of promising drug candidates.
While at ACELYRIN, Dr. Peloso was responsible for global clinical
development of the company’s pipeline of products, with an initial
focus in immunology.
Before ACELYRIN, Dr. Peloso was vice president and
therapeutic head for rheumatology of Horizon Therapeutics, where he
was responsible for advancing the company’s pipeline of
first-in-class rare disease medicines including, notably KRYSTEXXA®
until its acquisition by Amgen in 2023. Prior to this role, Dr.
Peloso served as group medical director for both AbbVie and Merck,
where he leveraged his extensive experience in biologics, small
molecules, and medical devices.
Among Dr. Peloso’s global clinical and regulatory
achievements across his career, he helped develop and ultimately
secure approvals for ORILISSA® (elagolix), ILUMYA™ (tildrakizumab),
Arcoxia® (etoricoxib), and Enbrel® (etanercept). Dr. Peloso has
also led a broad range of successful filings in numerous
therapeutic areas that have led to approvals by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency and in the Asian and
Latin American markets.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Peloso during this
time of significant growth at COUR,” said John J. Puisis, founder,
president, and chief executive officer of COUR. “The addition of
Dr. Peloso to our management team comes on the heels of our
successful fundraising earlier this year, which will allow us to
further develop our clinical-stage pipeline as we advance into
Phase 2 clinical studies with our lead program in Myasthenia Gravis
as well as advance our Type 1 Diabetes program into the clinic
later this year. We look forward to benefiting from Dr. Peloso’s
significant expertise in late-stage clinical development and
regulatory approval as we aim to bring transformative solutions to
patients in need. I would also like to take this opportunity to
express a deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Roy First, who has been
COUR’s acting CMO for the past five years. Working closely with the
company, Dr. First has been invaluable to COUR’s present
success.”
Dr. Peloso added, “I am excited to be joining COUR
as the company moves forward into late-stage development. Given the
tremendous promise already demonstrated by their nanoparticle
technology platform in earlier studies and across other
indications, I’m enthusiastic to be at the forefront of a truly
innovative solution for patients with a range of autoimmune
diseases with key unmet medical needs. My experience in bringing
new medicines from bench to bedside will complement an existing
strong leadership team at COUR.”
Prior to entering the industry, Dr. Peloso was in
academic practice in rheumatology in the U.S. and Canada. He holds
two bachelor’s degrees, one in biochemistry and another in
sociology, from McMaster University and earned his medical degree
from the University of Calgary before training in rheumatology and
epidemiology.
About COUR Pharmaceuticals:
COUR Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage
biotechnology company developing therapies to treat patients with
autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. COUR’s first-in-class
therapies are based on our proprietary antigen-specific immune
tolerance platform and are designed to reprogram the immune system
to address the underlying root cause of immune-mediated diseases.
Data from multiple clinical and preclinical programs have
demonstrated the ability of COUR’s product candidates to induce
antigen-specific immune tolerance and have the potential to treat a
wide range of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
COUR is developing product candidates in Myasthenia
Gravis and Type 1 Diabetes in addition to having partnered products
in Celiac Disease (with Takeda Pharmaceuticals), and Primary
Biliary Cholangitis (with Ironwood Pharmaceuticals).
For more information, please visit
www.courpharma.com
ContactsFor Investor
RelationsBrian Bock, Chief Financial
Officerbbock@courpharma.com
For MediaOwen
Blaschakoblaschak@lifescicomms.com