Genzyme Corp.

BOSTON, Feb. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sparrow Pharmaceuticals , a targeted cardiometabolic therapeutics company, today announced the appointment of Carlo Incerti, M.D., to its Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2026. Dr. Incerti is a highly accomplished executive with a strong background in medicine and over 35 years of strategic experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. “Carlo’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Sparrow as we are looking ahead to pivotal trials of clofutriben for type 2 diabetes and seeking to expand development into other cardiometabolic indications,” said Robert Jacks, Sparrow President and Chief Executive Officer. “Carlo is respected globally for his impressive track record of guiding successful development and commercialization of impactful therapies. His decision to join Sparrow signals strong scientific and medical validation of our approach from a recognized industry leader.” Dr. Incerti added, “Sparrow is pioneering a new mechanism of action to tackle a common driver of metabolic dysfunction that current standard-of-care therapies do not address. By lowering intracellular cortisol specifically in patients demonstrating evidence and consequences of having elevated cortisol, HSD-1 inhibition with clofutriben could allow treatment to progress from one-size-fits-all to targeting a specific pathogenic cause of disease progression. Having already demonstrated not only encouraging evidence of glycemic control improvement, but also suggestion of benefit on other cardiometabolic parameters such as weight, blood pressure, and lipids, all without significant safety or tolerability concerns so far, clofutriben’s clinical pro incredibly exciting and could strongly contribute to reaching therapeutic goals in these patients.” Dr. Incerti currently serves as an Operating Partner at Forbion and brings over three decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He most recently held the position of Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Medical Affairs at Sanofi Genzyme. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Incerti was an Associate Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Modena, with a main research focus on thyroid diseases and sex hormones. Dr. Incerti currently serves as Chairman of the Board at Numab Therapeutics AG and Chairman of the Board at Azafaros B.V. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of Dyne Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: DYN) and Synox Therapeutics Ltd. Dr. Incerti is a Founding Member of IRDiRC, the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Inversago Pharma, which was sold to Novo Nordisk in 2023, and of Yellow Jersey Therapeutics, a spin-off from Numab Therapeutics, which was sold to Johnson & Johnson in 2024. About Sparrow Pharmaceuticals Sparrow Pharmaceuticals is a targeted cardiometabolic therapeutics company delivering breakthrough solutions for the millions of patients who struggle to control metabolic dysfunction with current therapies. The company’s lead candidate, clofutriben, is a once-daily, oral HSD-1 inhibitor in late-stage development for type 2 diabetes with elevated cortisol. HSD-1 inhibition is a novel mechanism that complements existing antidiabetic agents by addressing a common cause of disease progression and treatment resistance across a spectrum of metabolic dysfunction. Clofutriben has been associated with improved glycemic control and other metabolic benefits while generally safe and well tolerated in multiple clinical trials without requiring dose titration. To learn more, visit or follow us on LinkedIn . Media Contact Maggie Whitney LifeSci Communications mwhitney@lifescicomms.com

OXFORD, United Kingdom, Jan. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OMass Therapeutics (‘OMass’ or ‘the Company’), a biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly validated target ecosystems such as membrane proteins or intracellular complexes, today announced updates to its Board of Directors, including the appointment of Jonathan Montagu, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of HotSpot Therapeutics, as Board Chair. In conjunction with the appointment, existing Directors Jim Geraghty and Birgitte Volck will retire from the board and continue to support the company as strategic advisers. “Over the past year, OMass has made meaningful progress across its portfolio, including advancing our lead MC2 antagonist towards the clinic, establishing in vivo efficacy for our first-in-class SLC15A4 program, and continuing to demonstrate the power of our OdyssION™ platform,” said Ros Deegan, Chief Executive Officer of OMass Therapeutics. “I would like to thank Jim and Birgitte for their contributions in building the foundation we have today, and I am excited to work closely with Jonathan as we continue to build long-term value across the pipeline and become a clinical-stage company.” Mr. Montagu has served as an OMass Board Director since 2019 and brings extensive experience as a trained chemist and biotechnology executive, with deep expertise across immunology, small-molecule drug discovery platforms and leadership of private biotech companies. Prior to co-founding HotSpot, Mr. Montagu served as Chief Business Officer at Nimbus Therapeutics, where he helped establish the company's drug discovery platform and pipeline. He also served as Vice President, Business Development at Concert Pharmaceuticals, where he played a leading role in executing the company’s $1 billion multi-product transaction with GSK. “I want to thank Jim and Birgitte for their many valuable contributions to OMass as the company has grown and successfully progressed multiple programs to late-stage preclinical development,” said Mr. Montagu. “OMass has built a differentiated pipeline and platform, and with several important milestones ahead, including the planned entry into the clinic, I look forward to working closely with Ros and the leadership team to help guide the company through its next phase of growth.” For further information, please contact: OMass Therapeutics Rosamond Deegan, Chief Executive OfficerEmail: ros.deegan@omass.com THRUST Renee LeckEmail: renee@thrustsc.com About OMass Therapeutics OMass Therapeutics is a biotechnology company discovering medicines against highly validated target ecosystems, such as membrane proteins or intracellular complexes. OdyssION™, OMass’ unique drug discovery platform, comprises next-generation native mass spectrometry with novel biochemistry techniques and custom chemistry to interrogate not just a drug target, but also the interaction of the target with its native ecosystem, separate from the confounding complexity of the cell. This unique approach results in cell-system fidelity with cell-free precision. OMass is advancing a pipeline of small molecule therapeutics in rare diseases and immunological conditions. Its lead program is a best-in-class MC2 (melanocortin-2) receptor antagonist for the treatment of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) and ACTH-dependent Cushing syndrome. The focus of the program has been to increase receptor residency time to make OMass’ antagonists resistant to competition by the endogenous ligand, thereby avoiding loss of efficacy in the face of rising adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels due to reductions in glucocorticoid supplementation for CAH or progression of Cushing’s Syndrome. Headquartered in Oxford, UK, OMass has raised over $160M (£129M) from a top-tier international investor syndicate including Syncona, Oxford Science Enterprises, GV, Northpond Ventures, Sanofi Ventures and British Patient Capital. To learn more, please visit www.omass.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zag Bio™, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering thymus-targeted medicines, today announced the appointment of Jan Hillson, M.D., a physician-scientist and rheumatologist with over 20 years of clinical development experience in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases across early and late stages, as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Hillson will oversee Zag’s clinical development strategy and execution and guide pipeline advancement. She will lead Zag’s clinical team as the company prepares to advance its lead program, ZAG-101 for Type 1 diabetes, into the clinic, with a first-in-human study anticipated in late 2026. “Jan joins Zag at a pivotal moment as we transition from research into clinical development,” said Jason Cole, Chief Executive Officer of Zag Bio. “She brings extensive expertise in immunology and rheumatology, along with firsthand experience advancing disease-modifying therapies for Type 1 diabetes. Jan’s deep understanding of autoimmune disease biology will be critical as we prepare ZAG-101 for the clinic and build a broader pipeline of thymus-targeted therapies.” “Zag is advancing a fundamentally different approach to treating autoimmune disease by targeting the thymus to restore immune tolerance,” said Dr. Hillson. “This strategy has the potential to address the underlying drivers of autoimmunity rather than simply managing the metabolic outcomes for Type 1 diabetes, a disease with significant unmet need where durable disease-modifying treatments remain limited. I’m excited to join the team as Zag moves toward the clinic and works to build a pipeline designed to retrain the immune system and change the course of autoimmune disease.” Dr. Hillson previously served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Provention Bio, a Sanofi Company, where she helped lead the clinical development of teplizumab for Type 1 diabetes and oversaw clinical projects in other autoimmune diseases. She has held senior leadership roles at Climb Bio, GlycoEra, Alpine Immune Sciences, ChemoCentryx, and Momenta Pharmaceuticals, and earlier served in senior roles at ZymoGenetics/Bristol Myers Squibb and Xcyte Therapies. Before entering the biotechnology industry, Dr. Hillson was a member of the clinical faculty at Harvard Medical School (Cambridge Health Alliance), Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, and Division Head at Virginia Mason Medical Center. She received her M.D. from the Stanford School of Medicine, an M.S. in environmental engineering from the California Institute of Technology, an M.S. in marine chemistry from Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and a B.S. from Michigan State University. She completed her training in immunology and rheumatology at the University of Washington. About Zag Bio Zag Bio™ has discovered a novel approach to create thymus-targeted medicines to treat and prevent autoimmune diseases by restoring central immune tolerance. Zag Bio designs bifunctional antibodies that deliver self-antigens to antigen-presenting cells in the thymus to harness the body’s natural process for training immune cells to recognize and tolerate self, halting or preventing autoimmune attacks on the body’s own tissues. Zag Bio’s pipeline includes ZAG-101, its lead program for Type 1 diabetes, as well as discovery programs for thymus-targeted therapies to address other autoimmune diseases and help patients and their caregivers. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Zag Bio’s team includes experienced experts in thymus biology, autoimmune diseases and innovative drug development. Zag Bio is supported by a broad syndicate of investors, including Polaris Partners, Mission BioCapital, AbbVie Ventures, the T1D Fund, Lightspeed Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, KdT Ventures, Regeneron Ventures, Boxer Capital, Pear VC, Codon Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments and Gaingels. For more information, visit www.zagbio.com and follow us on LinkedIn.