Cinclus Pharma appoints Kajsa Larsson as Chief Medical Officer
Cinclus Pharma Holding AB (“Cinclus Pharma”), a biopharmaceutical company focusing on gastric acid related diseases, today announces the appointment of Kajsa Larsson as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Kajsa has extensive and broad experience from the pharmaceutical industry. Kajsa succeeds Peter Unge who will continue as a senior adviser to Cinclus Pharma and as a member of the company’s board. Kajsa will begin on March 1, 2022.
“We are delighted to have recruited Kajsa Larsson to Cinclus Pharma. Kajsa’s broad knowledge and experience in clinical development and medical affairs is a vital piece of the puzzle as we work to bring our candidate drug linaprazan glurate through clinical trials, to the market for the benefit of patients worldwide,” said Christer Ahlberg, CEO of Cinclus Pharma.
“At the same time, I would like to thank Peter Unge for his fantastic achievements during the years, since the start of the Cinclus Pharma. Peter has been instrumental in taking the company to where it is today, and I look forward to our continued collaboration”, continued Christer Ahlberg.
Kajsa Larsson, MD, is a specialist in internal medicine and hematology with more than 15 years of clinical experience, mostly from Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge. She also has a PhD in medical sciences from Karolinska Institute. She has been working for 13 years in clinical development and medical affairs at companies such as Roche, Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. She joins most recently from the role as global clinical lead at Oncopeptides, a biotech company focused on the development of therapies for difficult-to-treat hematological diseases.
“I am thrilled to join Cinclus Pharma at such an interesting stage. Our candidate drug linaprazan glurate has been well researched in earlier trials, despite currently only being in phase II trials, so I feel very comfortable contributing to taking our lead candidate further into phase III. I very much look forward to joining this inspiring team,” said Kajsa Larsson.
For additional information, please contact:
Christer Ahlberg, CEO
Phone: +46 70 675 33 30
e-mail: [email protected]
About Cinclus Pharma and its lead candidate drug linaprazan glurate (former X842)
Cinclus Pharma AB is a clinical stage pharma company developing small molecules for the treatment of gastric acid related diseases. Its drug candidate linaprazan glurate represents a novel class of drugs, Potassium Competitive Acid Blocker (P-CAB), and is a fast-acting regulator of intragastric pH by a different mechanism of action than PPIs. The beneficial safety and pharmacokinetic properties of linaprazan glurate have been documented in phase I studies. A phase II study is ongoing in Europe and the US. Linaprazan glurate is a prodrug of the P-CAB linaprazan, developed originally by AstraZeneca. Linaprazan has been evaluated in 23 phase I, and two phase II studies in a total of approximately 2,500 subjects. Linaprazan glurate is being developed for treatment of severe Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and has the potential to heal esophageal injuries and alleviate GERD symptoms more effectively than current pharmaceutical therapies including PPIs.
Based on epidemiological data, the estimated size of this target population is 18.5 million and carries blockbuster potential (estimated sales exceeding USD 1 bn). The company management has extensive experience from the pharmaceutical industry with special focus on the GI pharmaceutical area with experience from AstraZeneca and Novartis. For more information www.cincluspharma.com
About GERD
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a digestive disease that affects the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), the ring of muscle between the esophagus and stomach, causing retrograde flow of gastric content into the esophagus. This leads to erosions, acid regurgitations and heart burn. About 175 million people of the adult population in North America and Europe suffer from reflux disease. The global acid reflux market is dominated by proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs). On average 5-10% of eGERD Grades A and B and approximately 30% of patients with eGERD Grades C and D are unhealed after eight weeks on PPIs, and 78% of all GERD patients experience nocturnal symptoms despite PPIs - resulting in quality-of-life issues. More than 20% of all GERD patients take PPIs twice daily to overcome the incomplete symptom relief or supplement their treatment with over the counter-remedies. Despite frequent off-label prescription of high dosage PPIs, many patients still suffer from poor symptom control indicating a clear need for better drugs to treat severe GERD.