Lyndra Therapeutics has announced a major leadership shakeup, with long-time Lyndra executive Jessica Ballinger becoming President and CEO, Chief Medical Officer Richard Scranton, M.D., M.P.H. advancing to Chief Medical Officer and President, Global Product Development, and Senior Vice President of People and Operations Lindsay Beaupre receiving a promotion to Chief People and Workplace Operations Officer. These changes come as the company gears up for a pivotal clinical trial of its lead asset oral weekly risperidone (LYN-005), with an initial data readout expected in the second half of 2023.
Dr. Patricia Hurter has successfully steered Lyndra to the completion of the innovative LYNX™ platform – a long-acting oral medicine delivery system that offers a steady, controlled release of drugs for an entire week.
Under Dr. Hurter’s exceptional leadership, the company constructed a state-of-the-art GMP production line and initiated a pivotal study of its lead asset – weekly risperidone (LYN-005). To recognize her significant contributions, Dr. Hurter has been appointed as the Science and Technology Committee Chair and will remain on the board of directors.
Amy Schulman, Co-Founder and Executive Chair of the Board of Lyndra, expressed her pleasure in the appointment of Trish Hurter as Chair of the Science and Technology Committee. According to Schulman, Hurter has led Lyndra tremendously during her tenure and should be able to leverage her knowledge and experience as the company heads towards filing its first New Drug Application.
Alongside Hurter is incoming CEO Jessica Ballinger, who comes with a broad understanding of the business, science, and personnel, and the board is confident that, with Ballinger at the helm, the company’s strategy will be approached with skill and vigor.
Dr. Hurter expressed his immense pride in Lyndra for achieving such great progress in the last four years, especially the advancement of their lead program to pivotal trials. He believes it to be the ideal time for the transition of leadership to Jessica, who has been an integral part of the company since the beginning. Looking ahead, Dr. Hurter looks forward to supporting the executive team in every way he can to help ensure Lyndra’s successful journey towards commercialization.
Ballinger joined Lyndra in 2016 and, within just five years, rose to the double position of Chief Operations Officer and President. During their tenure, they helped to secure an incredible $260M in financing, formed essential partnerships and garnered multiple grants, culminating in the successful completion of Lyndra’s first pivotal trial on the brink of revealing its interim data. With such a strong groundwork, Lyndra is well-poised for commercialization.
We are thrilled to announce that Rich and Lindsay have taken on new positions at Lyndra! They have both been integral to driving progress at Lyndra, and have been working together for several years. Rich has been instrumental in creating an effective, streamlined pivotal clinical trial to ensure success with regulators, while collaborating with leading experts in the field.
Our top priority at the moment is to bring our first product to market, and with the start of our pivotal clinical trial investigating oral weekly risperidone (LYN-005) we have a clear path towards final approval for commercialization. We are so excited to have Rich and Lindsay in their new roles, and look forward to their continued leadership.
Dr. Patrick Scranton, a leading figure in drug delivery, is taking on a major new role as President of Global Product Development and Chief Medical Officer of Lyndra. In this position, Dr. Scranton will be responsible for furthering Lyndra’s patented LYNX drug delivery platform, and creating and supervising portfolio strategies to take products from preclinical stages to commercialization.
Additionally, Scranton is expected to build up and manage partnerships and alliances with external entities. Before his current role, Dr. Scranton had a distinguished career at Pacira Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Chief Medical Officer and spearheaded the global development and advancement of EXPAREL®, a successful, long-lasting non-opioid injectable local anesthetic.
We are thrilled to be continuing our work on the LYNX drug delivery platform with a pipeline of new products targeting conditions where reduced dosing frequency and consistent drug delivery could have a massive benefit. Enrollment for the pivotal PK study is moving along well and we anticipate an interim readout later this year, paving the way for a single oral capsule delivering a week-long dose.
Lyndra is delighted to announce the appointment of Andrea Beaupre as Chief People and Workplace Operations Officer. Beaupre brings to the company an illustrious career in human resources, most recently at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where she oversaw the human capital strategies for several of the company’s C-Suite and global leadership teams.
In her new role, Beaupre will be responsible for all facets of people, workplace operations, technology, communications, health and safety, security and facilities management. Her experience and vision promises to bolster collaboration, create a culture of alignment and drive meaningful growth for the company.
Lyndra’s LYNX™ Drug Delivery Platform
Say goodbye to taking multiple pills every single day – the innovative LYNX™ drug delivery platform is revolutionizing the world of oral drug delivery! First invented in the Langer Lab at MIT in 2015, the LYNX platform has quickly progressed through preclinical and early human studies – ultimately achieving proof of concept in a Phase 2 study.
Not only does this platform provide consistent drug delivery, reducing peaks and troughs of drug levels, but it also has the potential to offer broader application across multiple therapeutic areas. With the LYNX drug delivery platform, we can now enjoy improved health outcomes and increased adherence, while simultaneously simplifying our lives by reducing the amount and frequency of medication we need to take.
About Lyndra Therapeutics
Lyndra Therapeutics is revolutionizing long-term oral treatments in Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases. From its lead product candidate oral weekly risperidone (LYN-005) for treating schizophrenia and bipolar 1 disorder, to its pledged development of oral weekly levomethadone, buprenorphine, monthly contraception, and biweekly ivermectin, the potential to address major public and global health issues are within reach.
Supported by the funding of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institutes of Health (NIH), AbbVie, and Gilead Sciences, Inc., Lyndra is rising to the challenge with its state of the art GMP manufacturing headquarters in Watertown, MA and Lexington, MA.