ORYZON Appoints Eisai Executive Vanessa Almendro Navarro to Board of Directors

MADRID, Spain and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oryzon Genomics, S.A. (ISIN Code: ES0167733015, ORY), a public clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging epigenetics to develop therapies in diseases with high unmet medical need, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Vanessa Almendro Navarro, of Eisai US, as an independent director. Dr. Almendro will be Lead Director and member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.

Carlos Buesa, CEO of Oryzon, said: “We welcome Vanessa to our board. As an oncologist with extensive experience in drug development, she is a recognized expert in the US biotech industry. We very much look forward to her guidance and support as we execute on our objectives in the coming years.”

Dr. Almendro has extensive experience in corporate strategy, and in the clinical and commercial development of therapeutics in a number of disease areas, including oncology, neurology, diabetes and pain. Over the past 16 years, she has been active across basic research, target discovery, drug development, clinical strategy, new product planning, strategic alliances, and business development. Following conferral of her PhD, she held a postdoctoral appointment as Group Leader in the Department of Oncology Medicine at the Hospital Clinico-IDIBAPS in Barcelona. From 2008-2014 she was a Visiting Scientist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Her career in the pharmaceutical industry began at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where she served as Head of Experimental Biology and then as Associate Director, Global Marketing Pipeline and Strategic Management.  Subsequently, Dr. Almendro joined Cogen Therapeutics as Director of Strategy and Operations, until her current position as Director of Strategy and Operations at the Genetic Guided Discovery in Dementia (G2D2) Center of Eisai in Cambridge, MA. Eisai is one of the largest Japanese pharmaceutical companies and has a global footprint.

Dr. Almendro combines her current functions with the position of Interim Managing Director at the philanthropic investment fund of the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), a charitable organization devoted to supporting research and promotion of therapies for the treatment of brain tumors. She also works with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council as a mentor to start-ups and biotech companies.

Dr. Almendro said: “I am excited to join the Oryzon Board at this important time for the company. Epigenome remodeling with LSD1 inhibitors has great therapeutic potential for the treatment of multiple diseases, and Oryzon is uniquely positioned to explore and advance the clinical development of these inhibitors. I am eager to start working with the rest of the Board and the company to advance the development of these epigenetic candidates in the hope of helping patients with devastating diseases.”

Following the appointment, Oryzon’s Board of Directors is composed of seven Directors, of which four are independent, one "other," and two Executive Directors. Three of the Directors have a biomedical background, while the others have experience in finance, auditing and marketing. Three of the Directors are women.

About Oryzon

Founded in 2000 in Barcelona, Spain, Oryzon (ISIN Code: ES0167733015) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company considered as the European champion in Epigenetics. Oryzon has one of the strongest portfolios in the field. Oryzon’s LSD1 program has rendered two compounds, vafidemstat and iadademstat, in clinical trials. In addition, Oryzon has ongoing programs for developing inhibitors against other epigenetic targets. Oryzon has a strong technological platform for biomarker identification and performs biomarker and target validation for a variety of malignant and neurological diseases. Oryzon has offices in Spain and the United States. For more information, visit

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