Dr. Schobel joins Vico from Roche where he was the clinical science leader for tominersen being developed for Huntington’s disease
LEIDEN, Netherlands, October 3, 2022 – Vico Therapeutics B.V., a neurology-focused genetic medicine company, today announced the appointment of Scott Schobel, MD as chief medical officer. Dr. Schobel brings significant drug development experience to Vico, including 10 years in various roles at Roche where he led the development of small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, and antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). While at Roche, he served as the clinical science leader of the tominersen program for Huntington’s disease (HD). In his new role at Vico, Dr. Schobel will lead clinical development efforts including advancement of VO659 for the potential treatment of HD and spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) into the clinic and expansion of the company’s VICOMER oligonucleotide-based RNA modulation platform.
“I am pleased to announce Scott’s addition to the Vico team,” said Luc Dochez, chairman of Vico. “He is a great complement to our CEO, Micah Mackison, who joined in August 2022 and Dr. Nicole Datson, our chief development officer. By expanding and strengthening our executive leadership team, Vico is well positioned for continued progress and success in the future.”
“I am delighted to welcome Scott to our Vico family,” said Micah Mackison, chief executive officer. “Scott shares our mission to bring innovative therapies to patients living with genetic diseases and brings an extraordinarily unique skill set and expertise to help us make this a reality. His leadership in clinical drug development and breadth of experience in developing genetic medicines, including for Huntington’s disease, ideally positions him to lead Vico’s development efforts as we work to progress to a clinical stage company.”
Dr. Schobel joins us from Roche, where he was group medical director and most recently clinical science leader of the Roche tominersen and gantenerumab clinical development programs. At Roche, he pioneered the development of clinical endpoints in HD research, co-chaired a task force that generated a new research-based disease staging framework for HD based on underlying biology, and clinically led the first ever huntingtin-lowering therapy Phase 3 program with tominersen. Prior to Roche, Dr. Schobel was an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center focused on studying hippocampal dysfunction across neurological and psychiatric diseases using a cross-species neuroimaging approach. He was also medical director of Columbia University Medical Center’s Center of Prevention and Evaluation (COPE), a clinical service dedicated to the treatment and longitudinal study of teenagers and young adults at high risk for psychotic disorders. Scott earned a B.A. in Japanese from the University of Minnesota, an M.D. from the University of North Carolina, and an M.S. from Columbia University.
“The VICOMER platform is positioned to transform the lives of patients living with rare genetic neurodegenerative diseases for which there are currently no disease-modifying treatments available,” said Dr. Schobel. “VO659 is a promising ASO and new molecular entity with allele-preferential mechanism of action for diseases like HD and SCA1, with the potential to treat all patients affected by these diseases regardless of individual genetic background, and an additional splice-modifying action in treatment of SCA3 based on data from preclinical studies. VO659 and the VICOMER platform are the reasons I joined Vico, as I am convinced this treatment modality is the way forward for devastating, rare genetically defined neurodegenerative diseases such as HD and SCAs.”
About Vico Therapeutics B.V.
Vico Therapeutics is committed to advancing RNA modulating therapies for patients with severe, genetic neurological disorders. Vico’s lead product candidate, VO659, is being developed for Huntington’s diseases and spinocerebellar ataxia types 3 and 1. Our VICOMER platform designs antisense oligonucleotides for various genetic defects by modulating or editing RNA. For more information, visit www.vicotx.com.
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