Coulter Partners secures Chief Financial Officer for Saniona

Coulter Partners was very pleased to partner once again with Saniona (OMX: SANION), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases, to secure the appointment of Jason A. Amello as Chief Financial Officer. Jason will be based in the U.S. and will support Saniona’s advancement of late-stage clinical trials with lead product candidate Tesomet in two rare eating disorders, hypothalamic obesity (HO) and Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS).

“With the recent completion of our $65 million financing, Saniona now has the resources to advance Tesomet to registration for approval and to move our early-stage pipeline into the clinic. In order to accomplish these milestones, we are assembling a strong executive team that will oversee the build-out of our headquarters in the U.S. I am thrilled to welcome Jason and thank the team at Coulter Partners once again for their professional support in achieving this appointment,” said Rami Levin, President and CEO of Saniona.

Jason A. Amello has over 25 years of corporate finance experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, contributing to strategic business growth and financial and operational performance. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Akebia Therapeutics Inc., where, over a seven-year period, he helped lead Akebia’s financing efforts, including its initial public offering, and served as a key advisor for Akebia’s merger with Keryx Biopharmaceuticals. During his tenure at Akebia, Amello built out the entire finance organization and was responsible for treasury management, financial planning and budgeting, accounting and reporting, taxation, procurement, facilities, and information technology. Prior to joining Akebia, Amello served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Ziopharm Oncology, Inc., and prior to that he held multiple finance leadership positions at Genzyme Corporation, now Sanofi Genzyme, including Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer. Earlier in his career, Mr. Amello spent 10 years in the business advisory and assurance practice of Deloitte. Amello holds a B.S. in Accounting from Boston College and is a Certified Public Accountant in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Amello currently serves on the Board of Directors of Acer Therapeutics, Inc. and the New England Baptist Hospital.

“I see tremendous potential for Saniona to create value for patients and for shareholders as it advances its pipeline of novel treatments for rare diseases,” Amello said. “I look forward to joining Saniona and expanding its global financial and operational footprint in order to deliver on its promise.”

About Saniona

Saniona is a rare disease biopharmaceutical company focused on research, development and commercialization of treatments for the central nervous system. The company has four programs in clinical development. Saniona intends to develop and commercialize treatments for rare disease indications such as hypothalamic obesity and Prader-Willi syndrome on its own. The research is focused on ion channels and the company has a broad portfolio of research programs. Saniona also has out-licensing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Productos Medix, S.A de S.V and Cadent Therapeutics. Saniona is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and in Boston, US.The company’s shares are listed at Nasdaq Stockholm Small Cap (OMX: SANION). Read more at www.saniona.com.

About Coulter

Partners Coulter Partners is a board and senior level executive search specialist focussed exclusively on global Life Sciences. From our offices in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, we work together across boundaries and disciplines to build outstanding leadership teams for our clients in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, health tech, diagnostics, CRO and services sectors. Our industry leading reputation is founded on deep sector knowledge and innovative thinking. Our strategy is built on a unique team culture and true global reach. Our goal is to bring you the world’s best talent.