17 January 2019 - - US-based immune tolerance company Anokion has named Simon Cooper, MBBS., to the newly created position of chief medical officer, the company said.

Cooper will lead Anokion's team that is advancing the company's development pipeline into clinical testing, with the first trial expected to commence by late 2019. Cooper will join the executive leadership team and will report directly to Anokion president and CEO John Hohneker, M.D.

He brings over 20 years of diverse clinical development experience, including biological drug development in immunology. He has served in multiple senior roles, most recently as asset strategy leader at AbbVie with responsibility for the development of risankizumab, an anti-IL-23 antibody, across multiple indications.

Prior to AbbVie, Cooper was vice president, global project head, immunology and inflammation at Sanofi, where he led the development of Kevzara sarilumab, an IL-6R antibody approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

He played a key role in its worldwide submission in RA and was a lead in the development of the product's global launch.

Previously, Dr. Cooper was global program medical director at Novartis, executive director, clinical research for Human Genome Sciences (now part of GlaxoSmithKline), and clinical science leader at Roche.

In these roles, he was instrumental in the development and approvals for Benlysta belimumab, Cosentyx secukinumab and Rituxan rituximab. He earned his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at University of Newcastle upon Tyne Medical School, before undertaking his higher medical training in Oxford.

Anokion is a leading immune tolerance company advancing novel, antigen-specific treatments for people living with the devastating effects of autoimmune disease.

The company is strategically progressing its development pipeline based on an industry-leading, novel platform that harnesses the body's natural tolerance pathways.

Initially formed as a spin-off from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the company is funded by leading investors, including Versant Ventures, Novo Ventures, and Novartis Venture Fund.