BEYOND SYMPTOM CONTROL

Developing therapies to restore functioning in patients with orphan conditions of the brain and nervous system, so that they can live their lives to the fullest

Who We Are

Noema Pharma is a biotech company developing groundbreaking therapies to address the most disabling symptoms in orphan conditions of the brain and nervous system.


Noema’s research and development is focused on understanding and meeting patient needs using our novel therapies. We will achieve our goal through a full partnership with the communities of patients, their families and caregivers and through collaboration with health care providers and policy makers.

Noema’s experienced and motivated team has a track record of successfully developing and commercializing therapies for conditions affecting the nervous system around the world.
Top wave

Pipeline

NOE-115 TRI NOE-101 mGluR5 NAM NOE-101 mGluR5 NAM Pre-ClinicalPHASE 1PHASE 2PHASE 3 NOE-105 PDE 10Ai NOE-109 mGluR2/3 NAM Seizures in TSC 1 Pain in TN 2 3 3 Tourette Syndrome Undisclosed Undisclosed 1. Tuberous Sclerosis Complex 2. Trigeminal Neuralgia 3. Under Phase 2 indication validation
Pre-ClinicalPHASE 1PHASE 2PHASE 3NOE-101mGluR5 NAMSeizures in TSC1NOE-101mGluR5 NAMPain in TN2NOE-105PDE 10AiTourette SyndromeNOE-109mGluR2/3 NAMUndisclosed3NOE-115TRIUndisclosed31: Tuberous Sclerosis Complex 2: Trigeminal Neuralgia 3: Under Phase 2 indication validation
Receptor

Our Science

Noema focuses on orphan CNS diseases characterized by imblanced neuronal networks leading to unresolved severe symptoms and significant impact on patient’s overall functioning. 

NOE-101 mGluR5 NAM
A highly selective, potent, and cell penetrant negative allosteric modulator of mGlu5 receptors for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and for the management of pain associated with Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN).

NOE-105 PDE10A inhibitor
A potent selective PDE10A inhibitor that safely modulates dopamine D2 receptor signaling in people with Tourette Syndrome (TS).

Experience and Vision

The Noema team has extensive experience in global pharma and biotech organizations in developing and commercializing innovative therapies for neurological and psychiatric indications.

LEADERSHIP

Luigi Costa

Chief Executive Officer

Luigi Costa

Chief Executive Officer

Luigi is co-founder and Chief Executive officer of Noema Pharma AG.

Since 2019 he is Entrepreneur in Residence at Sofinnova Partners where he brings over 25 years of operational and leadership experience in the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

As a former Chief Executive Officer of Nordic Nanovector, a biotech company focusing on novel targeted therapeutics in hematology and oncology Luigi led one of the largest European biotech IPOs of 2015 and the company’s growth into a $600 million valuation, before completing an over-subscribed private placement in 2016.

He served as Board Member and Member of the Audit Committee of Oncopeptides AS (Sweden), which went public in 2016.

Previously, Luigi was Regional Head International at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, acquired by Amgen in 2014, where he led the company’s international organization and the launch of its multiple myeloma drug, Kyprolis®, outside the USA. Prior to joining Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Luigi held several senior leadership positions with Amgen, including Head of International Oncology Franchise, General Manager of Italy and President of France, Amgen’s largest market outside the USA. He also held various leadership positions of increasing responsibility with Eli Lilly both in Europe and in the US, where he was responsible of CNS global access and pricing strategy.

Luigi holds a BSc in Business Administration and an MBA from Bocconi Business School and Manchester Business School.

George Garibaldi, MD

Chief Medical Officer

George Garibaldi MD

Founder & Chief Medical Officer

Dr George Garibaldi is co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Noema Pharma AG. He had previously progressive leadership responsibilities in research and development across multiple major pharmaceutical companies. Most recently he served as VP global head of CNS at F. Hoffmann-La Roche.

Dr Garibaldi trained in child psychiatry, statistics, and neuropsychopharmacology. During his tenure at Roche, he lead the development of multiple therapies including OCREVUS ® (ocrelizumab), approved in 2017 for Primary progressive and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Prior to Roche, he was Head of Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry at Novartis and Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Lead at Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Throughout his career, Dr Garibaldi developed therapies for multiple conditions including Exelon® (rivastigmine) in Alzheimer’s disease, Fanapt® (iloperidone) in schizophrenia, Risperdal Consta® (risperidone long-acting injectable) in frequently relapsing patients with bipolar disorders, Invega® (paliperidone) in patients with schizoaffective disorder and lead the regulatory submission and approval of Risperdal® (risperidone) in autism spectrum disorders.

Dr Garibaldi serves as peer reviewer for multiple scientific and medical journals. He authored more than 100 articles in peer reviewed journals. He developed, validated and published  a number of clinician- and patient-reported clinical outcomes including “The Readiness for hospital Discharge Questionnaire in schizophrenia”, “The Patient most Troubling Symptoms scale in Anxiety and Depression”, “The Readiness for Work Questionnaire in schizophrenia” and “The Clinical Global Impression for Schizoaffective Disorder”.

Dr Garibaldi is a board member of several biotechs and serves on the scientific advisory boards of many companies. He is member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), founder and past president of the International Society for Central Nervous System Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM) and former chairman of the International Society for CNS Drug Development (ISCDD). He is the recipient of multiple awards including the ISCDD award for innovation. Dr Garibaldi is widely recognized by his peers as an innovative and collaborative leader guided by his dedication to developing novel therapies for patients.

Dr Garibaldi earned a M.D. from the faculty of medicine of Cairo University. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the Rene Descartes Medical School, his studies in statistics and mathematical modeling at the University of Kremlin-Bicêtre, and his studies in Neuropsychopharmacology at the Pitié Salpétrière.

John Kemp, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

John Kemp PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

John Kemp PhD, our CSO, has over 35 years of leadership experience in neuroscience research, drug discovery and development and is also currently CSO of Syndesi Therapeutics.

Prior to that, John was most recently Head of Neuroscience Discovery at Janssen, Belgium. Previously, John was Chief Research and Development officer at Evotec and, prior to that, CEO of Evotec Neurosciences, which was spun-out from Evotec and raised €25 million in a series A round in 2004 before subsequently being bought back by Evotec. Before joining Evotec, John was SVP and Head of CNS Research at Roche in Basel. He also held senior research positions in Neuroscience R&D at Merck Sharpe and Dohme in the UK where he rose to the position of Senior Investigator.

John has published over 140 peer reviewed articles, was an original member of ISI’s Most Highly Cited Researcher Database and has an h-index of 72.

SHAREHOLDERS

Antoine Papiernik

Antoine Papiernik

Antoine Papiernik is a Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, which he joined in 1997. Antoine has been an initial investor and active board member in public companies like Actelion, ProQR, Shockwave MediAcal,  NovusPharma (then sold to CTI), Movetis (then sold to Shire), Mainstay, Pixium Vision and Stentys, which went public respectively on the Zürich stock exchange, the NASDAQ, the Milan Nuovo Mercato, the Belgium Stock Exchange and the  EuroNext Paris, in Cotherix (initially NASDAQ listed, then sold to Actelion), CoreValve (sold to Medtronic), Fovea (sold to Sanofi Aventis), Ethical Oncology Science (EOS, sold to Clovis Oncology) and Recor Medical (sold to Otsuka). He has also invested in and is a board member of private companies  Reflexion Medical, Medday, Tissium, SafeHeal, Mnemo Therapeutics, Ablacare, Corewave,Highlife and Rgenix. Antoine has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. In 2012 and 2011, Antoine was selected by Forbes for its “Midas List” of the world’s top venture capital investors. Antoine is one of the only Europeans on the list, and one of the few life science investors as well.

Darren Carroll

Darren Carroll

Darren joined Polaris Partners in 2020 as a partner, and he focuses on investing in therapeutics and healthcare technology companies.

Prior to joining Polaris, Darren completed a 22-year career with the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis. For the past decade, Darren led Lilly’s global business development efforts, retiring in 2019 as senior vice president of corporate business development. He was responsible for all strategic transactions at Lilly, ranging from venture capital investments and acquisitions, to company formation and divestitures. During Lilly’s 145-year history, the two largest deals — the $8 billion acquisition of Loxo Oncology and the $13 billion spin-out of Elanco Animal Health — occurred during Darren’s leadership. Among the many deals Lilly completed during that time, Darren is most proud of the result that 10 new medicines became available to thousands of patients.

Earlier in Darren’s career at Lilly, he reorganized and led the company’s venture capital operations and formed the current Lilly Ventures. He also was the founder of Lilly Asia Ventures, one of the most successful life science VC funds in China. During his tenure leading Lilly’s venture activities, Darren served on the board of directors for multiple portfolio companies, including Citic Pharmaceuticals, Novast Holdings, and Hydra Biosciences (also a Polaris Partners portfolio company).

Darren was the founding CEO of InnoCentive, Inc., the first open-innovation company in the life sciences. He created the company as a Lilly subsidiary and spun it out to investors in 2005. During a “sabbatical” from Lilly, Darren led both corporate and new product development at RealMed, a healthcare transactions and technology company that is now part of Availity.

In the 1990s, Darren left private legal practice in New York and joined Lilly to head legal matters for Lilly’s global technology group, which included the pharmacy benefit manager PCS Healthcare. He later led legal matters for Lilly’s flagship medicine, Prozac.

Darren earned an AB in political science (summa cum laude), Masters in public administration, and JD in law from Syracuse University, where he held the University Fellowship, L.E.S. Fellowship, and Lehman Fellowship.

Arthur Franken 

Arthur Franken

Arthur Franken is a General Partner at Gilde Healthcare and is leading the firms’ investment activities in the (bio)pharmaceutical sector. He joined Gilde in 2001 and is member of the founding team. He is active in venture and growth capital investments in the (bio)pharmaceutical, medtech, diagnostics and digital health sectors. He led the investments in Breath Therapeutics (acquired by Zambon), Conatus Pharmaceuticals (IPO on NASDAQ), FlowCardia (acquired by C. R. Bard), Levicept, Moximed, MTM Laboratories (acquired by Roche), Noema Pharma, ProQR Therapeutics (IPO on NASDAQ) and STAT-Dx (acquired by QIAGEN). He has been involved in numerous investments and divestments including Ablynx (IPO on Euronext, acquired by Sanofi-Aventis), Axonics (IPO on NASDAQ), Calypso Biotech, CVRx, Eargo (IPO on NASDAQ), FIRE1, and uniQure (IPO on NASDAQ). He represents Gilde on the boards of Calypso Biotech, Levicept, Moximed and Noema Pharma and served as a board member for Breath Therapeutics, FlowCardia, MTM Laboratories, ProQR Therapeutics and STAT-Dx until the trade sales or IPO. Prior to joining Gilde he was active in cardiovascular research at the Leiden/Amsterdam Center for Drug Research and TNO. He holds a master’s degree in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University, the Netherlands. He is a Dutch national.

Andreas Wallnöfer

Andreas Wallnöfer

Andreas is General Partner at BioMed Partners, a Swiss based VC and board member of several European biotech companies. He is a senior executive leader with more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including 12 years as a member of the F. Hoffmann-La Roche Pharma R&D Executive Leadership team. He was Head of Cardiovascular & Metabolism R&D (CVM) and member of the Roche / Genentech Portfolio Committee. Andreas was part of several successful product developments and market introductions. Before the integration of Genentech, Andreas was global Head of Clinical Research & Exploratory Development. He had a key role in the integration of the Roche and Genentech Development organizations and led subsequently Roche’s Early Development Department. Andreas holds a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Basel, degrees In Pharmaceutical Medicine and was trained as a fellow at the Centre of Human Drug Research at the University Hospital of Leiden, Netherlands. He also holds an Executive MBA from IMD Lausanne.

INVESTORS

The Noema team successfully raised a 54 million Swiss Franc (USD59 million/EUR50 million) Series A financing round co-led by Sofinnova Partners and Polaris Partners. Sofinnova had previously provided EUR3.5 million in seed financing.

Podcast

Noema, Basimglurant and a New Clinical Trial for Seizures in TSC

Contact

To learn more about Noema Pharma’s assets, investment outlook and potential, contact us at info@noemapharma.com.