DAMONA Pharmaceuticals Appoints John Reilly as Chief Executive Officer

DAMONA Pharmaceuticals, a preclinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of first-in-class small molecules for the treatment and prevention of cognitive symptoms associated with brain disorders and aging, today announced the appointment of John Reilly as the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and member of the Board of Directors.

Mr. Reilly brings two decades of leadership experience building and creating value for biotechnology companies, with deep knowledge and expertise in corporate strategy, business development, and leading teams in preclinical R&D and clinical development of innovative therapies.

“We feel very fortunate to have attracted John into the role of CEO for Damona. He brings a wealth of biotechnology company-building experience and a vast network of North American investor and partner relationships, which will be essential in bringing our lead asset toward IND and clinical human proof-of-concept trials,” said Etienne Sibille, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of DAMONA.

“I’m ecstatic to have John join the DAMONA team as CEO. John brings a great background to DAMONA with a proven track record of building and managing high-performance preclinical and clinical biopharmaceutical teams that deliver results,” said Jacki Jenuth, Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Lumira Ventures.

Prior to joining DAMONA, Mr. Reilly co-founded and served as President and CEO of Apic Bio, a gene therapy company developing first-in-class treatments for rare neurological and liver diseases. At Apic, he secured multiple funding rounds, oversaw development programs, and orchestrated a global licensing agreement with uniQure for the company’s lead program to treat superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), a rare, genetic form of ALS. Previously, Mr. Reilly held a number of senior management positions at various biopharmaceutical companies, including Vice President of Business Development at Tetragenetics, which was acquired by Abcellera (Nasdaq: ABCL). Prior to Tetragenetics, he co-founded and served as CEO of Gendyne Therapeutics. Mr. Reilly holds a B.A. from Hamilton College and M.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Cornell University.

“I am very excited to join DAMONA as CEO and look forward to working with the board, management, and scientific team to continue the company’s impressive progress as we advance the preclinical pipeline and lead program for the treatment of cognitive symptoms associated with depression and diseases of aging into a Phase 1 clinical study,” said John Reilly, CEO of DAMONA Pharmaceuticals.