"Andreas is an accomplished investor with several successful exits. He has an exceptional track record in drug development across both pharma and biotech, as well as in company building," said Janine Erler, CEO of Neumirna. "His ability to translate innovative science into clinical and commercial success, leveraging smart and effective development strategies, will be most valuable for the success of our company. We are thrilled to welcome him to the board."
Wallnöfer will play an important role as Neumirna prepares for clinical development of its lead program in drug-resistant epilepsy. His appointment marks an important step in strengthening Neumirna’s board and advancing the company’s mission to transform the standard of care in neurological disease.
"The opportunity to help develop a better medicine for epilepsy, a disease that affects more than 50 million people worldwide, is both exciting and deeply motivating," said Andreas. "Seizure control is not enough. The therapeutic goal must be seizure freedom, and Neumirna’s lead asset has shown unprecedented disease-modifying efficacy in relevant models."
Wallnöfer has more than 25 years of leadership experience across pharma, biotech, and venture capital, including as former Head of Clinical Research at Roche. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to the successful development and market introduction of multiple medicines across a range of disease areas. He has also been instrumental in building and exiting multiple biotech companies including the recent $3 billion acquisition of EyeBio by MSD, only three years after the company's inception.
He was recently a Partner at Jeito Capital and previously held senior leadership roles at F. Hoffmann-La Roche as a member of the R&D ExecutiveLeadership team. He was trained as a Clinical Research fellow at the UniversityHospital of Leiden, Netherlands and holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and an Executive MBA from IMD Lausanne and currently serves on multiple boards acrossEurope and Asia.
Scientific focus and clinical promise
Neumirna’s science targets the root causes of disease by modulating microRNAs, master regulators of chronic neurological disorders. The company’s lead candidate is a first-in-class ASO therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy.
About Neumirna
Neumirna is the Copenhagen-based biotechnology company developing miRNA-based therapeutics to address the root causes of neurological disease. Built by a multidisciplinary team of experts in RNA biology and neuroscience, the company is advancing a pipeline of precision medicines aimed at conditions such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease.
