WATERTOWN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Lyndra Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company working to make daily pills a thing of the past, today announced the appointment of two new members of its Board of Directors: Doug Dachille, former Chief Investment Officer of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), who will also chair the audit committee, and Jillian Moo-Young, Managing Director at AIG. In addition, Lyndra announced the promotion of Jessica Ballinger to President and Chief Operations Officer.
During his time at AIG, Dachille directed the growth of the firm’s investments in life sciences and he has elected to join Lyndra’s Board based on his ongoing interest in the company’s success. Moo-Young will represent AIG, based on its position as lead investor in Lyndra’s recent Series C financing round. The appointments of Dachille and Moo-Young bring deep executive leadership, risk management and asset management experience in addition to direct equity investments expertise to Lyndra’s Board of Directors.
Ballinger has been a member of the Lyndra leadership team since 2016, and has played a leading role in building Lyndra as Chief Operations Officer and, previously, Vice President of Reimbursement and Strategic Alliances. She has helped the company raise almost $250 million in funding, inclusive of Lyndra’s Series C. Simultaneously, Ballinger played a key leadership role in successfully advancing Lyndra’s oral, ultra-long-acting drug delivery platform through multiple preclinical and early clinical studies.
“Jess is a builder,” said Dr. Patricia Hurter, Chief Executive Officer of Lyndra Therapeutics. “Over the past five years, she has been a key partner in getting Lyndra to where it is today: on the cusp of our first pivotal trial and building toward commercialization. Jess is a great example of someone who brings an authentic, empathetic style of problem solving to the table but also rolls up her sleeves and pushes us to get things done. That’s the kind of leadership we value at Lyndra, and I’m thrilled to continue to partner with her as we move Lyndra forward.”
Ballinger’s promotion comes after Lyndra has built out an executive team with deep functional expertise as it progresses Lyndra’s groundbreaking drug delivery platform toward pivotal trials and commercialization. In addition to Ballinger and Ray Knox (Chief Manufacturing Officer), who has also been with the company since 2016, over the past two years Lyndra has added Abigail Jenkins, Chief Commercial and Business Officer, Dr. Richard Scranton, Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Örn Almarsson, Chief Technology Officer, to round out its C-suite.
“Lyndra’s ultra-long-acting oral capsule technology will change how we take medicines – and how well medicines can work,” said Amy Schulman, co-founder of Lyndra Therapeutics and executive chair of the company’s Board of Directors. “Jess has been with Lyndra since nearly the beginning. Her new role is well-deserved and a perfect example of the power of the strong leaders we have in Lyndra’s C-suite. Diversity has always distinguished the company and its Board and under Trish’s leadership this quality has only been strengthened. I’ve always believed this company is a jewel – one of the best performing ‘get-it-done’ teams out there. Their grit and experience coupled with Doug and Jillian’s financial acumen should accelerate Lyndra’s success.”
Lyndra recently announced a successful End of Phase 2 (EOP2) meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for oral weekly risperidone (LYN-005) for the treatment of schizophrenia and Fast Track designation for oral weekly levomethadone (LYN-014) for the treatment of opioid use disorder.
About Lyndra Therapeutics
Lyndra Therapeutics is pioneering the first-ever oral, ultra-long-acting, extended-release therapies, which have the potential to fundamentally change the way people take medicine by enabling patients to take a pill once a week rather than daily. The company’s breakthrough extended-release oral capsule is designed to provide consistent drug levels for an entire week or as long as a month, from one, normal-sized capsule – something no oral therapy has ever previously achieved. Lyndra’s robust pipeline is made up of therapies with established and well-known safety profiles across a number of disease areas in which non-adherence is known to be a significant driver of poor or undesirable outcomes, including central nervous system diseases, oral contraception and opioid use disorder, among others. Lyndra’s lead product candidate, weekly risperidone (LYN-005), is being developed for the treatment of people living with schizophrenia and bipolar 1 disorder. The company is also committed to advancing its platform across new chemical entities and a variety of critical global and public health opportunities alongside partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the NIH. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.lyndra.com.
