Dr. Debra Odink appointed to President and Dr. Shi Yin Foo joins Thryv’s Board of Directors
LAVAL, Québec, Canada | September 1st, 2022
Thryv Therapeutics Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Debra Odink to President and Chief Development Officer of the company and the addition of Dr. Shi Yin Foo to its Board of Directors. Both individuals bring impressive depth of development and company building expertise which will be crucial as Thryv moves into clinical trials later this month.
Over the course of 30 years, Dr. Odink has been involved in pharmaceutical development across the spectrum of early and late-stage programs including both large and small molecules. Dr. Odink started her career at Roche working in process development and quickly transitioned to start-up, venture backed biotechnology companies. At Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, she advanced novel antibiotics from pre-clinical studies to US FDA approval – Peninsula was acquired by Johnson and Johnson. As the Chief of Technical Operations at Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Odink advanced two products into phase 3 clinical studies for both cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders. While at Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, Dr. Odink advanced four rare disease programs into clinical development, including one recently approved product by the US FDA. Most recently, at SiteOne Therapeutics, Dr. Odink served as Chief Development Officer and advanced their non-opioid pain therapeutic into clinical development. Debra has been Chief Development Officer of Thryv Therapeutics Inc. since September 2021, leading all aspects of the Company’s Research and Development strategy.
Dr. Shi Yin Foo brings over 20 years of experience as a practicing physician and a catalyst in advancing innovative new programs through the various stages of drug development. She has translational expertise in a breadth of disease areas, including cardiorenal, immunology/inflammation and rare diseases, as well as an interest in novel and adaptive clinical trial designs. Dr. Foo has been in multiple executive roles, including at Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cydan Therapeutics, Imara Therapeutics and Tiburio Therapeutics, where she was also an Observer on the Board. Dr. Foo is the scientific founder and CEO of Arvada Therapeutics, a company working on novel therapeutics in rare arrhythmic diseases.
“The rapid advancement and expansion of our platform of therapies is a testament to Debra’s leadership, technical abilities and ability to inspire breakthrough results. As our first compounds begin to enter clinical trials for long QT syndrome and resistant cancers, we are thankful to have Debra’s oversight and relentless drive leading this effort,” commented Paul F. Truex, Thryv’s Chairman and CEO. “The addition of Dr. Foo will be critical as our portfolio transitions into clinical studies for the treatment of long QT syndromes and other arrhythmias. Her insights will be instrumental in helping us to build a world class organization intended to bring much needed therapies to those in need.”
About Thryv Therapeutics Inc.
Thryv Therapeutics Inc. (previously LQT Therapeutics Inc.), is a privately owned company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They have been pioneering a precision medicine approach to treat Long QT Syndrome via SGK1 inhibition since 2019 and have since evolved their portfolio to include the treatment of resistant and rare cancers. The development of SGK1 inhibitors represents a novel approach to target treatment-resistant cancers, and complement existing therapies. This strategic evolution has secured an additional US$15M financing fuelling Thryv to complete a proof-of-concept study for LQTS, and submit an IND for the treatment of resistant cancer.
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