Business
X4 Pharmaceuticals Promotes Renato Skerlj, Ph.D., to Chief Scientific Officer
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: XFOR), a leader in the discovery and development of novel therapies
About this update from X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: XFOR), a leader in the discovery and development of novel therapies targeting diseases resulting from dysfunction of the CXCR4 pathway, today announced the promotion of Renato Skerlj, Ph.D., to the position of Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Skerlj is one of the scientific founders of X4 and co-inventor of X4’s lead drug candidate, mavorixafor. He joined the company in September 2019 as Senior Vice President, Research and Development. As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Skerlj will lead all research and development functions and pre-clinical development activities.\n “Dr. Skerlj’s positive impact on X4 has been visible since day one,” said Paula Ragan, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of X4 Pharmaceuticals. “He has been integral to our success in the application and acceleration of our research and development capabilities and has effectively advanced our CXCR4-targeted candidates into the clinic. Dr. Skerlj’s vision and proven track record in discovering and developing small molecule drugs for rare diseases significantly strengthens our senior leadership team. We look forward to his continued contributions as we progress mavorixafor through clinical development and expand our pipeline to support the long-term growth of the company.” Dr. Skerlj added, “This is an exciting time for X4 as we evaluate mavorixafor as a potential disease-modifying therapy for patients with WHIM syndrome and as a targeted treatment for genetically-defined blood cancers, such as Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia. In my new role as Chief Scientific Officer, I look forward to our team continuing to leverage its robust in-house research and development capabilities as we advance our pipeline and expand into additional rare disease indications.” Dr. Skerlj has more than 25 years of experience leading the discovery and development of disease modifying small molecule drugs to treat genetically defined rare diseases. He has authored 67 publications, holds 52 patents and has advanced multiple drug candidates into clinical development. Prior to joining X4, Dr. Skerlj held drug discovery and development leadership roles at Lysosomal Therapeutics. Previous to that, he was interim Head of Small Molecule Discovery at Genzyme and part of the executive team at AnorMED, a public...