April 25th, 2022
Kallyope, Inc., a leading biotechnology company focused on identifying and developing therapeutics targeting the gut-brain axis, today announced the appointment of Fernando Sallés, PhD, as Chief Business Officer. Dr. Sallés joins the Kallyope senior leadership team as the company advances its pioneering drug discovery platform, clinical trials, and pipeline of multiple programs modulating gut-brain axis signaling across a broad range of therapeutic areas.
“As we work to improve human life, we are continuing to build a world-class team to take our innovations from the lab to the real world,” said Jay Galeota, president and CEO, Kallyope. “With several novel molecules in clinical development and increased momentum around our unique drug discovery platform, we now have an abundance of potential opportunities. Fern is an experienced senior leader in pharma and biotech business development, with a proven record of success in building and expanding companies over more than two decades, and he can help us maximize the value of those assets. We’re confident he’ll be a terrific addition to our team.”
Fernando Sallés has held a variety of strategic and business development roles in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries over the past 22 years, following nine years in academic and not-for-profit research. Most recently, he was senior vice president and head of US and EU Business Development at I-Mab Biopharma, a China-based global biotech, where he co-led the outlicensing negotiations for a key oncology program to Abbvie, one of the largest such deals in the biotech sector in 2020, which helped drive I-Mab’s valuation to more than $5 billion in 2021. Previously, he served as vice president, Global Search and Evaluation, for branded products at Teva Pharmaceuticals and as executive director, Strategic Licensing and Acquisitions for ophthalmology, neuroscience, and drug delivery technologies at Merck & Co., Inc. He has held senior business development positions at other biopharma companies including Schering-Plough and Organon. A Certified Licensing Professional (CLP), Dr. Sallés earned his PhD in molecular and cellular pharmacology at Stony Brook University, where he continues to serve as an adjunct faculty member.