CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & LAUSANNE, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anokion SA, a Swiss biotechnology company focused on treating autoimmune disease by restoring normal immune tolerance, today announced the appointments of Patricia “Patty” Allen to its board of directors and chairperson of the audit committee, and Kristin Neff as vice president, clinical operations.

“We are thrilled to welcome Patty to our board of directors as she brings more than 25 years of financial leadership to the company. Her depth of strategic and financial experience in the biopharma industry has been pivotal to the growth of multiple private and public biotechnology companies,” said John A. Hohneker, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Anokion. “We are also pleased to welcome Kristin to the Anokion team as we make continued progress with our two lead programs, KAN-101 for celiac disease and ANK-700 for multiple sclerosis. With the recent FDA clearance of our IND for ANK-700, we will soon have two clinical-stage programs in our pipeline. Kristin’s expertise leading clinical operations, particularly in the areas of multiple sclerosis and celiac disease, will be critical to our success.”

“Anokion has emerged over the last few years as a leader in developing innovative autoimmune therapies designed to re-educate the immune system with a potentially transformative approach versus currently available treatments. I look forward to working with the other members of the board of directors and the rest of the Anokion team as the company advances its second program into the clinic with the goal to transform patient care,” said Ms. Allen.

Ms. Allen was most recently chief financial officer of Zafgen, Inc. (now Larimar Therapeutics) from 2013 to 2020 where she raised over $300 million and led finance, human resources, investor and public relations, and information technology. Ms. Allen has over 25 years of financial leadership experience in the biotechnology industry at both publicly traded and private companies. From 2011 to 2012, she provided independent consulting services to biotechnology companies in a variety of areas, including interim CFO services, fundraising, deal structures, financial planning, organizational structure, investor relations and business development. Previously, from 2004 to 2011, Ms. Allen served as the vice president of finance, treasurer and principal financial officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, where she had significant interactions with the investment community and was influential in raising over $900 million via the company’s initial public offering, follow-on common stock offerings and multiple business development transactions with top-tier pharmaceutical companies. Prior to Alnylam, Ms. Allen was at Alkermes, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, most recently serving as the director of finance. Ms. Allen began her career as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche, LLP. Ms. Allen also serves as a director on the board of directors of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals and is the chair of their audit committee. Ms. Allen graduated summa cum laude from Bryant College with a B.S. in business administration.

Ms. Neff joins Anokion from Venthera, Inc., a BridgeBio company, where she served as vice president, clinical operations and oversaw all activities supporting the early stage development of the company’s topical PI3K inhibitor. Prior to Venthera, Ms. Neff served as director, clinical operations, program leadership at Biogen, Inc., where she led the strategy, planning and implementation of the global clinical development program operations in MS. Before that, she was vice president, clinical operations and project management at ImmusanT, Inc., where she led the global Phase 2 study of a vaccine to treat celiac disease. Earlier, Ms. Neff held various clinical operations and clinical affairs roles at InVivo Therapeutics, Taris Biomedical, Inc., ConforMIS, Inc., HeartWare, Inc., Boston Scientific Corp., Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Parexel International. Ms. Neff began her career at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where she was a technical director in the Asthma Research Center. She holds an M.S. in biomedical engineering from Boston University and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she graduated cum laude as a Commonwealth Scholar.

About Anokion

Anokion SA is a Swiss biotechnology company that aims to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases by restoring normal immune tolerance. The company is focused on both prevalent and rare autoimmune diseases, including celiac disease, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. Anokion’s distinct approach leverages the company’s immune-based platform, which targets natural pathways in the liver to restore immune tolerance and address the underlying cause of autoimmune disease. For more information, please visit http://www.anokion.com/.