CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tiburio Therapeutics Inc. (Tiburio), a private biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for rare neuroendocrine tumors and endocrine diseases, today announced the appointment of Nerissa Kreher, MD, to the newly created position of Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Kreher brings 13 years of experience in medical affairs and clinical development from leading biotechnology companies, most recently serving as Chief Medical Officer at AVROBIO, a gene therapy company. There, she led all clinical development and clinical operations for multiple global rare disease programs, including programs for Fabry and Gaucher disease, among others.

“We are very fortunate to have Nerissa join Tiburio given her clinical expertise in endocrinology and breadth of experience leading the advancement of clinical-stage programs for rare diseases at some of the most recognized companies in the industry,” said Abraham N. Ceesay, Chief Executive Officer of Tiburio. “Throughout her career, she has shown tremendous dedication to the rare disease communities she’s served. We look forward to her leadership and expertise progressing our lead program with TBR-760 into a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with non-functioning pituitary adenoma in the second half of 2019.”

Nerissa brings deep academic, clinical research and biotechnology industry experience and she has held leadership roles in both clinical development and medical affairs at large, public and private, start-up biotechnology companies. Prior to AVROBIO, Dr. Kreher was the Global Head of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Zafgen, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for the treatment of metabolic diseases. In the role, she led the clinical team responsible for advancing the development of their lead program for Prader-Willi syndrome. Previously, she was Global Clinical Development Lead for Shire HGT and Executive Medical Director of Metabolic Disorders at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Kreher began her career as Director, Medical Affairs at Serono and Medical Director at Genzyme. She received her M.D. from East Carolina University, her B.S. in biology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S. in clinical research from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Dr. Kreher holds an executive MBA from Northeastern University Graduate School of Business Administration.

“The chasm between patients diagnosed with a rare disease and the treatments available for them is vast and this is especially true for the rare neuroendocrine diseases Tiburio is tackling. In an effort to bridge that gap, I’ve spent my career helping companies bring new potential therapies to largely underserved patient populations and look forward to doing the same at Tiburio,” said Nerissa Kreher, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Tiburio. “I’m thrilled to join the team and help the company advance what we hope will be the first non-invasive and effective treatment for patients suffering from these debilitating and life-altering pituitary tumors.”

About Tiburio

Tiburio is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing novel treatments for rare neuroendocrine tumors and rare endocrine diseases where there is significant patient need. Our pipeline consists of two clinical stage compounds, TBR-760 for the treatment of non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA), and TBR-065 for additional rare endocrine diseases. The company was launched out of orphan drug accelerator Cydan with financing from leading life sciences investors, New Enterprise Associates, Longitude Capital, Lundbeckfonden Ventures, and Alexandria Venture Investments. Tiburio is located in Technology Square in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, please visit tiburio.com.