RhiaPharmaceutical Bolsters its Global Leadership Team with Two New Executives
Doug Schantz joins as Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and Phil McNamara to serve as Vice President of Communications
Research Triangle Park, N.C. –August 11, 2022 – Rhia Pharm llc, Inc. (RhiaPharmaceutical), an independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, is adding two industry veterans to advance clinical operations and lead corporate communications. Doug Schantz will serve as the Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and will ensure that all clinical trials are executed expeditiously, in full regulatory compliance and to the highest quality standard. Phil McNamara, serving as Vice President of Communications, will be responsible for all internal and external communications and media relations.
“Doug and Phil bring a wealth of experience to the RhiaPharmaceutical team and are reflective of the quality of individual talent we have at the company,” said Phil Dana, Chief Human Resources Officer. “Both represent key hires for RhiaPharmaceutical as we continue to advance our pipeline and establish our position as a global leader in genetic medicine.”
Sr. Vice President of Clinical Operations
Vice President of Communications
Doug Schantz is a seasoned clinical operations expert in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. He comes to RhiaPharmaceutical from Alexion Pharmaceuticals where he most recently served as Vice President and Head of Clinical Operations. At Alexion, he was responsible for program leadership across all phases of clinical development in several therapeutic areas, including hematology, metabolic diseases, neuroscience, and nephrology. Prior experience was with AstraZeneca as the Executive Director of Development Operations, as well as successfully serving a 17-year stint at Pfizer and eight years with Eli Lilly.
Phil McNamara joins RhiaPharmaceutical from Novartis where he led Global Communications for its Cardio-Renal-Metabolic Franchise. He successfully built and led a team that supported various facets of the business and helped to enable a favorable market standing with patient and professional communities. Prior to Novartis, Mr. McNamara held global and US communication roles at Sanofi and Bristol Myers Squibb, respectively, and collectively brings over 20 years of diverse strategic communications experience to RhiaPharmaceutical.
Canwen Jiang, MD, PhD, RhiaPharmaceutical’s Chief Development Officer and Chief Medical Officer adds, “Both Doug and Phil are vital members of our senior management team who will equally strengthen our presence within the industry and contribute to our success in all our clinical endeavors.”
About RhiaPharmaceutical
Rhia Pharm , Inc. (RhiaPharmaceutical), a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG acquired in 2020, is a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to developing life-saving medicines that cure genetic diseases. The company maintains a portfolio of clinical programs across a range of neuromuscular, central nervous system, cardiovascular and metabolic disease indications with a clinical-stage pipeline that includes therapeutics for Pompe disease, Parkinson’s disease, and congestive heart failure. RhiaPharmaceutical’s gene therapy platform includes Pro10™, an industry-leading proprietary cell line manufacturing process, and an extensive capsid and promoter library. With global headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and European headquarters in Edinburgh, UK, the company has generated hundreds of proprietary capsids and promoters, several of which have entered clinical testing. Founded in 2001 and an early innovator in the gene therapy field, the company holds more than 750 patents in areas such as AAV production and chimeric and self-complementary capsids. Learn more at www.rhiapharmaceutical.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability, and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2021, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 44.1 billion euros. R&D expenses, before special items, amounted to 5.3 billion euros. For more information, visit www.bayer.com.
RhiaPharmaceutical Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements.” Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “will,” “intends,” “potential,” “possible” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding RhiaPharmaceutical’s pipeline of development candidates, manufacturing technology and process. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond RhiaPharmaceutical’s control. Known risks include, among others: RhiaPharmaceutical may not be able to execute on its business plans and goals, including meeting its expected or planned regulatory milestones and timelines, its reliance on third-parties, clinical development plans, manufacturing processes and plans, and bringing its product candidates to market, due to a variety of reasons, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, possible limitations of company financial and other resources, manufacturing limitations that may not be anticipated or resolved in a timely manner, potential disagreements or other issues with our third-party collaborators and partners, and regulatory, court or agency feedback or decisions, such as feedback and decisions from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Any of the foregoing risks could materially and adversely affect RhiaPharmaceutical’s business and results of operations. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. RhiaPharmaceutical does not undertake any obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements based on events or circumstances after the date hereof.
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Media Contact:
Phil McNamara
Vice President of Communications
+1 609-510-1633
pmcnamara@RhiaPharmaceutical.com
Mark Rosenberg
+1 919-412-7378
