MedDay Appoints Industry Leader Christian Chavy as Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Frédéric Sedel to Transition to CSO
Paris, France, July 26, 2018 – MedDay, a pioneering pharmaceutical company focused on the
treatment of nervous system disorders, today announces the appointment of Christian Chavy
MBA as Chief Executive Officer, effective 27th August 2018.
Mr. Chavy will succeed Dr. Frédéric Sedel, CEO and Co-Founder of MedDay, who will remain
in his existing role until August 27th. Dr. Sedel will then transition to Chief Scientific Officer
and continue to serve on the board of directors.
Commenting on the appointment, Catherine Moukheibir, Chairman of the board, said,
“We are thrilled to have Christian take on the role of CEO at this critical time for MedDay as we
execute on our confirmatory Phase III clinical trial of MD1003 in progressive MS and make
preparations to become a commercial stage company.”
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would also like to thank Dr. Frédéric Sedel, our Co-Founder,
who has been instrumental in building MedDay into the company that it is today and
has laid the groundwork for a company that ultimately should bring innovative treatments for
patients,” continued Mrs. Moukheibir. “Under his leadership, MedDay has advanced our lead
candidate MD1003 into late stage clinical development, including completion of a successful
Phase III trial in progressive MS, and is building a pipeline of promising candidates to treat CNS
diseases. The appointment of Christian Chavy represents a continuation of this strategy. We
look forward, also, to further contributions from Frédéric Sedel in his new role as Chief
Scientific Officer.”
Mr. Christian Chavy commented, “I am honored to be appointed CEO of MedDay. MD1003,
which has a novel mechanism of action and which has already demonstrated strong clinical
activity, is positioned to transform the treatment paradigm for progressive multiple sclerosis. We
look forward to completing the Phase III trial and see a clear path to approval in the major
markets, including U.S. and EU. MedDay is also dedicated to finding effective treatments for
severe diseases of the nervous system through our pioneering work of targeting brain
metabolism.”
Dr. Frédéric Sedel commented, “I am convinced that Christian Chavy has the right skill set and
vision to bring MedDay to the next stage. I am very excited with my new role as company CSO
which I believe is the area where I can create the most value.”
Mr. Chavy is a highly accomplished pharmaceutical executive with experience in Europe and
North America. Most recently, he was the CEO of Stallergenes (2014-2016) and Partner at Ares
Life Sciences (2010-2014). His career highlights include 9 years at Actelion Pharmaceuticals
(2000-2009) where he was promoted to President of Global Operations, with responsibility over
USA, Europe, Japan and rest of the world. Prior to joining Actelion, he was VP, Head of the
reproductive health commercial unit at Serono in Geneva and Chairman of Serono’s French
subsidiary. He also spent five years at Groupe Rhône Poulenc Rorer as its Chairman in Canada,
having previously been Chairman and CEO of Rorer France. Earlier in his career he held roles
of increasing responsibility at Bristol-Myers France, SmithKline and French Laboratories, and
Merck Sharpe & Dohme.
Mr. Chavy is currently chairman of the board of Ixaltis, a specialty pharmaceutical company
developing innovative treatment for genitourinary tract disorders that he founded, and serves on
the board of Cerenis. He is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et
Commerciales (ESSEC) and the Institut de Contrôle de Gestion (ICG).
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About MedDay
MedDay is a pioneering pharmaceutical company targeting brain metabolism to treat nervous
system disorders. The company was founded in 2011. The lead product, MD1003 is a
formulation of high dose Pharmaceutical grade Biotin (hdPB) developed for progressive multiple
sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases. The R&D pipeline also includes MD1103 in autism
spectrum disorders and MD1105 in Alzheimer’s disease.
MedDay explores brain metabolic pathways through its metabolomics research platform,
SPECMET, which supports the discovery of additional pipeline assets. SPECMET screens
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with various Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders to
identify the disrupted metabolic pathways. Compounds that are known to affect these metabolic
pathways are then identified and further developed. SPECMET was developed in collaboration
with the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA) and in March 2017, MedDay acquired the
health division of Profilomic SA, an innovative company formed out of the CEA in 2010, which
significantly strengthened MedDay’s research capabilities as the company aims to expand its
pipeline.
MedDay is well funded by investors including Sofinnova Partners, InnoBio, Andera Partners and
Bpifrance Large Venture. MedDay is headquartered in Paris and has a team in Boston.
For more information, please see: medday-pharma.cdmail.biz. Follow us on Twitter:
@MedDayPharm.
Contact information:
MedDay Pharmaceuticals
Email: contact@medday-pharma.cdmail.biz