Domain Therapeutics appoints Youssef Bennani as chairman of the board

French drugmaker Domain Therapeutics, specializing in the research and development of new drug candidates targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), has announced the nomination of Youssef Bennani to the board of directors. Following this nomination, Dr Bennani has been elected chairman of the board, taking over from Sam Eletr who held the position from November 2008 to April 2014.

Dr Bennani (pictured) currently serves as site head and vice president of Research and Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ research and development site in Laval, Quebec. Prior to this role, he spent seven years as vice president of Drug Innovation at Vertex’s headquarters in Massachusetts. During his career he has been in management and leadership roles at Athersys, Abbott Laboratories (now AbbVie) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Dr Bennani is a scientific leader with more than 20 years of pharma/biotech experience covering the whole spectrum of drug discovery, from target identification to early clinical development. He has led multiple programs resulting in more than 25 preclinical, clinical and marketed medicines. Dr Bennani's educational background includes a PhD in chemistry, a postdoctoral work in K. Barry Sharpless Nobel Laureate laboratory in San Diego (CA) and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Lake Forest School of Management, Chicago (IL). In 2011, Dr Bennani received an Honorary Diploma from the University of Montreal, for his overall contributions to Canadian society. He has authored over 245 publications, patents and pending patent applications.

“We are delighted to welcome Youssef Bennani to our board of directors”, said Pascal Neuville, board director and chief executive of Domain Therapeutics. “Dr Bennani joins us at a time when we intend to strengthen our role as a Pharma industry partner and expand our internal pipeline. His extensive experience in the Pharma/biotech sector and his considerable expertise in R&D will contribute to deliver continued success in our growing market share in the field of GPCRs.”

“The prospect of joining Domain Therapeutics and contributing to their next scientific and corporate challenges is highly exciting, as the company has signed various pharma partnerships, and already has two programs at the regulatory preclinical stages while others are expected to follow,” said Dr Bennani.