Abivax appoints Dr. Sheldon Sloan, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer

Abivax SA, a Phase 3 clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics that modulate the immune system to treat patients with chronic inflammatory diseases, today announced the appointment of Dr. Sheldon Sloan, M.D.. Bioethics, as new Chief Medical Officer, effective on March 1, 2023. Dr. Sloan brings over 30 years of experience in academia and the biopharmaceutical industry, with an extensive track record in the field of Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). He has spent the last 25 years of his career in large pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including 15 years in leading positions at J&J, followed by Arena Pharmaceuticals and then Pfizer as Program Lead for Etrasimod UC. He successfully managed late-stage clinical trial programs, global submissions and product launches in the IBD field.

“We are excited to welcome Sheldon at Abivax and to benefit from his vast experience to drive the clinical and medical strategy and development of our Company in the years to come, said Prof. Hartmut J. Ehrlich, M.D., CEO of Abivax. “His strong competencies will be particularly valuable to assist Abivax in conducting our ongoing Phase 3 clinical program with obefazimod for the treatment of UC patients. Further, Sheldon will be driving the strategy for future clinical development programs with obefazimod, first and foremost for Crohn’s disease. The Abivax team is now very much looking forward to leveraging our competencies and efforts with Sheldon and to advancing obefazimod towards potential global licensing and to make the drug candidate quickly available to all the patients in need of new effective treatment options, if approved.”

Prior to joining Abivax, Dr. Sloan worked for Arena Pharmaceuticals and, after its acquisition, for Pfizer. He was Program Lead for Etrasimod UC, responsible for cross-functional leadership, planning and management, operational business process planning, and execution management of the Ulcerative Colitis program, including its global submission and launch. Before joining Arena Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Sloan held different leadership positions at J&J in Medical Affairs, R&D, and Science Policy. In his last position at J&J, he was Global Medical Affairs Leader for IBD, leading the global launch strategy and execution for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis for Stelara. Dr. Sloan also has a strong track record in bioethics and has been involved on different levels in questions addressing bioethics issues including animal care and use and human subjects research. Dr. Sloan holds an M.D. from Rush Medical College, Chicago, USA, and a Master of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He has authored a large number of scientific publications and abstracts and contributed to various books in the gastroenterology and immunology fields.

Sheldon Sloan, M.D., M. Bioethics, CMO of Abivax, commented: “I am thrilled to join Abivax during these exciting and decisive times and to drive its late-stage clinical program with obefazimod for the treatment of UC through the pivotal studies and, if successful, towards global submissions and launch, if approved. I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute with my dedicated expertise in the IBD field to guide obefazimod through the medical, clinical and commercial steps and processes. I believe that this drug candidate could become a novel long-term therapy option addressing the still high unmet medical needs in the chronic inflammatory disease field and am committed to make sure its potential is fully realized for the benefit of the many patients suffering from IBD and other chronic inflammatory diseases.”