BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gain Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: GANX), a biotechnology company transforming drug discovery with its proprietary computational discovery platform identifying novel allosteric binding sites and creating small molecule treatments, today announced that Matthias Alder, the Company’s current Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. He succeeds Eric Richman, who has served in the role since July 2020 and led the Company through its initial public offering in March 2021. Mr. Alder was also appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors effective as of today and, with his appointment, the size of the Board was increased to eight members. Mr. Richman will continue to serve as a member of the Board and as a senior advisor to the Company.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Eric for his invaluable contributions leading the transformation of Gain Therapeutics from a private company to a publicly traded company, and for establishing an impressive scientific advisory board and leading a strong management team. We are pleased that Eric will continue to assist Gain Therapeutics as a senior advisor and to continue to lead as a member of the board with his extensive strategic and corporate leadership experience,” said Khalid Islam, Ph.D., Chairman of Gain’s Board of Directors. “I am delighted to welcome Matthias as CEO and as a member of our Board of Directors. During the course of the last year, Matthias has worked closely with Eric in shaping and leading the Company’s corporate development strategy. As we enter the next phase of growth for Gain, his proven ability to foster strong relationships with collaboration partners in the pharmaceutical industry will be instrumental in positioning Gain’s platform for expansion.”
“I am excited to be transitioning into the role of CEO and leading Gain in our next phase of growth,” said Matthias Alder. “Eric and I have forged a strong working relationship since I joined Gain last year and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new consultant role. Gain is poised for success as we focus on our continued execution against established strategic objectives, including advancing our two lead programs in Parkinson’s and Gaucher disease and expanding the application of our proprietary computational drug discovery platform through collaborations and strategic partnerships.”
Since joining Gain as Chief Operating Officer in 2021, Mr. Alder has been instrumental in building the Company’s corporate and business development strategy and shaping the Company’s operations. Mr. Alder brings more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, having held senior leadership roles in both U.S. and European-based publicly traded companies leading business development, strategy and a range of corporate functions. Prior to joining Gain, he served as Chief Business Officer and Head of US Operations of Autolus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AUTL). Previously, Mr. Alder held senior roles in business development, licensing, and legal affairs at Sucampo Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SCMP), Cytos Biotechnology AG, and Micromet, Inc. Mr. Alder was formerly a partner at Cooley LLP and previously served as Division Counsel at Ciba-Geigy and Novartis. He earned his law degrees from the University of Miami (LL.M.) and the University of Basel (lic.iur).
About Gain Therapeutics, Inc.
Gain Therapeutics, Inc. is transforming the drug discovery paradigm with structurally targeted allosteric regulators identified with its proprietary computational discovery platform SEE-Tx®. The ability to identify never-seen-before allosteric targets on proteins involved in diseases across the full spectrum of therapeutic areas provides opportunities for a range of drug-protein interactions, including protein stabilization, protein destabilization, targeted protein degradation, allosteric inhibition and allosteric activation. Gain’s pipeline spans neurodegenerative diseases, lysosomal storage disorders, metabolic diseases and oncology. Gain’s lead program in Parkinson’s disease has been awarded funding support from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) and The Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson’s with GBA, as well as from the Eurostars-2 joint program with co-funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and Innosuisse. For more information, please visit https://www.gaintherapeutics.com.
