Rewind Therapeutics Builds Scientific Advisory Board to Accelerate Its Development of New Therapies for Myelin-Related Diseases

LEUVEN, Belgium, October 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Rewind Therapeutics ("Rewind"), a private Belgian biotech company developing innovative first-in-class therapies for myelin-related diseases, today announces the establishment of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) composed of eminent scientists in the fields of multiple sclerosis, myelination and neuroscience drug discovery and development.

The first members of the Rewind SAB are:

• Wolfgang Brück, Professor of Neuropathology and Head of the Department of Neuropathology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany;
• Giancarlo Comi, Professor of Neurology, Chairman of the Department of Neurology, and Director of the Institute of Experimental Neurology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy; and
• Daguang Wang, Managing Director of Yonjin Capital, the North America and Europe investment arm of Yonjin Group in Shanghai, China

The SAB will provide specialist support, advice and guidance to Rewind on its rapid development of novel therapies for multiple sclerosis and other myelin-related diseases.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Brück is a highly respected clinician-scientist whose work focuses on the structural features and immunopathology of multiple sclerosis (MS), in particular on the mechanisms of degeneration (myelin, oligodendrocytes, axons neurons) and regeneration, namely remyelination in MS lesions. He has been in his current role at the University Medical Centre Göttingen, Germany since 2002, and is also on the SABs of the Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair, University of Cambridge, UK, the Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research, UK, and The Myelin Project. He has received various awards for his contributions to research in MS, including the Langheinrich Award for Multiple Sclerosis Research (2000), the Hans Heinrich Georg Queckenstedt Award for Multiple Sclerosis Research (2002), the HG Mertens Prize for Innovative Research in Neurology (2008), and the Kohn Memorial Lecture Prize from the British Society of Toxicological Pathology (2011).

Prof. Giancarlo Comi brings world-renowned expertise in multiple sclerosis. In addition to his role at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, he is President of the European Charcot Foundation (ECF), a member of the Board of Administration of the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Foundation and of the Scientific Committee of Associazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla, Co-Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Progressive MS Alliance, and a fellow of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN). In recent years, he has been awarded honorary memberships of the Russian Neurological Academic Society, the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), the European Neurological Society (ENS) and the Sociedad Espanola de Neurologia.

Daguang Wang Ph.D. combines expertise in neuroscience discovery with board-level leadership experience. Before moving into venture investment, he spent more than 20 years in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with Amgen, Memory Pharmaceuticals, PsychoGenics, EMD Serono and Sanofi. Dr. Wang started his career as an R&D scientist in neuroscience, before moving to business development and external innovation with a focus on neuroscience, multiple sclerosis and rare diseases. He was global lead of business development and external innovation for neuroscience at Sanofi before joining Yonjin Capital in 2018. He serves on the boards of multiple start-up biotech companies.

Ian J. Reynolds, CEO of Rewind Therapeutics, said: "We are proud to have attracted such respected and distinguished scientists to our advisory board. It's a privilege to have access to their combined insights and knowledge, which will be invaluable as we develop our pioneering work. With further appointments planned in the near future, the guidance of the SAB will help to ensure we maximise the potential of our funding to create truly innovative therapies for myelin-related diseases." 

About Rewind Therapeutics  

Rewind Therapeutics is developing first-in-class therapies for myelin-related diseases and aims to bring them into fast-track clinical development.

Myelin-related diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, are those where the myelin sheath surrounding nerves is damaged leading to deficient nerve transmission that may affect multiple functions, including sensation, cognition and movement, among others. The causes of damage may be genetic, a result of infectious or autoimmune disease or from exposure to toxic agents or other forms of brain injury.

The Company was founded by KU Leuven's Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3) and Axxam S.p.A. (Milano, Italy), a leading provider of integrated discovery services for the Life Sciences. Rewind Therapeutics works in close collaboration with both organisations and a world-class academic network to advance its discovery and development activities.

Rewind Therapeutics completed a €15.2 million Series A financing in January 2018, which was led by life science investors Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, M Ventures BV and the Flemish investment company PMV, together with CD3 and KU Leuven Gemma Frisius Fonds.