WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OvaScienceSM (NASDAQ: OVAS), a global fertility company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of new treatment options, today announced changes to its senior management team, reflecting the Company’s continued evolution and global growth. Christophe Couturier has been named Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. He succeeds Jeff Young, who is pursuing other opportunities and will be leaving OvaScience after a transition period. Karen Long joins the Company as Executive Senior Vice President, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance and James Luterman, Ph.D., OvaScience’s Senior Vice President, Research and Development, has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Research and Development. All will report directly to Harald Stock, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of OvaScience.
“We welcome Christophe to OvaScience in this critical position for our path forward. His extensive experience working in a range of financial roles for global life science companies will be indispensable as we continue to commercialize our novel treatments in multiple international markets and will strengthen the already talented financial team we have in place,” said Harald Stock, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of OvaScience. “We thank Jeff for his numerous contributions to OvaScience and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Christophe Couturier has nearly 20 years of experience with a proven record in management, finance and strategic planning across multiple geographies. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager at Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany), where he led the Merck KGaA/Pfizer Global Immuno-Oncology Alliance. Previously, he worked in a series of roles at MilliporeSigma, including serving as Senior Vice President of the Merck KGaA/Sigma-Aldrich Integration Program, Vice President of Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis and Vice President of Finance Operations for the company’s Bioprocess and BioScience divisions. Prior to joining Merck KGaA in 2004, Christophe worked as an Associate Partner at IBM Business Consulting Services, as a Finance Director at Lloyds Pharmacy and as a Head of Finance for Novartis, with positions in Hungary, Norway, Turkey and Switzerland. He holds an M.B.A. from ESSEC Business School in France.
Karen Long joins OvaScience from Danaher, Leica Biosystems, where she was Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance and oversaw the development of the company’s quality management systems, regulatory, clinical research and compliance programs. Karen has more than 20 years of industry experience, including various senior positions in regulatory affairs at Abbott, Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., Calypte Biomedical Corporation and Baxter Healthcare Therapeutics. She holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and Medical Technology from the University of Illinois.
James Luterman, Ph.D. has been with OvaScience since January 2014 and brings over 20 years of industry experience to the Company. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President, Research and Development at OvaScience. Prior to OvaScience, Dr. Luterman held various positions at Shire Human Genetic Therapies. He also worked at Biogen and Decision Resources Group. He holds a B.A. in Biology and Psychology from Bucknell University and a Ph.D. in Behavioral and Neural Sciences from Rutgers University. Dr. Luterman was a postdoctoral fellow at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Dr. Stock added, “Karen’s background in navigating clinical and regulatory affairs for international healthcare companies will provide critical insight as we seek to refine our regulatory strategies in key international markets. Further, Jim’s scientific expertise and commitment to building a robust body of preclinical data have allowed us to ensure the development of our pipeline treatments – OvaTure and OvaPrime – are on track. I’m eager to work with Christophe, Karen and Jim on my executive team.”
About OvaScience
OvaScience (NASDAQ: OVAS) is a global fertility company dedicated to improving treatment options for women around the world. OvaScience is discovering, developing and commercializing new fertility treatments because we believe women deserve more options. Each OvaScience treatment is based on the Company’s proprietary technology platform that leverages the breakthrough discovery of egg precursor (EggPCSM) cells – immature egg cells found inside the protective ovarian lining. The AUGMENTSM treatment, a fertility option specifically designed to improve egg health, is available in certain IVF clinics in select international regions. OvaScience has commenced a non-commercial preceptorship training program with the OvaPrimeSM treatment, which could increase a woman’s egg reserve, and is developing the OvaTureSM treatment, a potential next-generation IVF treatment that could help a woman produce healthy, young, fertilizable eggs without hormone injections. OvaScience treatments are not available in the U.S. For more information, please visit www.ovascience.com and www.augmenttreatment.com and connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.
