Altavant Sciences Appoints Lyn Baranowski Chief Operating Officer

BASEL, Switzerland and DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Altavant Sciences, a company in the Roivant family focused on clinical development of novel therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension and other indications, today announced the appointment of Lyn Baranowski as Chief Operating Officer. In this new position, she will be involved in the general management of the company, leading cross-functional teams to establish and execute on a business and financing strategy that will deliver on the company's short- and long-term business objectives.

"Ms. Baranowski's strong record is matched by her passion and energy for building biotech companies," said William T. Symonds, Pharm.D., Chief Executive Officer of Altavant. "She brings deep expertise in the execution of strategic financial and corporate transactions from her past career in biopharma and at venture capital firms. I look forward to leveraging her expertise as we grow Altavant and advance our pipeline including rodatristat ethyl."

Prior to joining Altavant, Ms. Baranowski served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Melinta Therapeutics, where she helped guide the company through a number of important milestones including Melinta's first FDA approval, a public listing through the acquisition of Cempra, acquisition of the infectious disease business unit from The Medicines Company, and ex-US partnering of four assets through multiple deals on five continents. Prior to Melinta she was Vice President of Commercial Development at Pearl Therapeutics, where she worked with a team to advance inhaled combination therapeutics for COPD through a rigorous clinical development program prior to the company's sale to AstraZeneca. Her earlier experience includes roles at Vatera Healthcare and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. She received her BA from American University and her MBA from Harvard Business School.

About Altavant Sciences

Altavant Sciences is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company formed in 2018 to advance promising therapies in areas of high unmet medical need with an initial focus on pulmonary arterial hypertension. Altavant's lead candidate is rodatristat ethyl*, a tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) Inhibitor that reduces the body's peripheral production of serotonin, lowering circulating serotonin levels in diseases where excessive production of the hormone has been implicated in the pathogenesis including pulmonary arterial hypertension, certain types of cancer, GI disorders, fibrosis, and inflammation. Rodatristat ethyl is currently preparing for Phase 2 clinical development in pulmonary arterial hypertension with a number of additional indications being explored. The company is led by William T. Symonds, Pharm.D., who was formerly Chief Development Officer of Roivant.

*name applied for; application pending

About Roivant

Roivant aims to improve health by rapidly delivering innovative medicines and technologies to patients. We do this by building Vants - nimble, entrepreneurial biotech and healthcare technology companies with a unique approach to sourcing talent, aligning incentives, and deploying technology to drive greater efficiency in R&D and commercialization. For more information, please visit www.roivant.com.

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SOURCE Altavant Sciences