Santhera Appoints Shabir Hasham as Chief Medical Officer and Member of the Executive Management Team

Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) has appointed Shabir Hasham, MD, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and a member of Santhera’s Executive Management team, effective May 1, 2022.

Shabir has served as Santhera’s Global Development Program Lead & Global Head Medical Affairs for the past three years. In this role, Shabir was primarily responsible for overseeing the clinical development and regulatory submission of vamorolone for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which culminated in the start of the rolling NDA submission to the U.S. FDA in March 2022, and for supporting launch preparations for this lead product candidate, the company said.

“As Program Lead for vamorolone and Head of Medical Affairs, Shabir has successfully guided Santhera’s clinical and regulatory work, led the data analysis effort and significantly increased the preclinical and clinical understanding of vamorolone both internally and with external stakeholders,” said Dario Eklund, CEO of Santhera. “Santhera has achieved a significant milestone with the start of the rolling NDA submission for vamorolone in DMD, and we are currently evaluating its potential in additional indications. Beyond this, our pulmonary candidate lonodelestat is close to entering Phase 2 clinical development, and I am confident that in his new role as CMO, Shabir will be a key contributor to shaping the future of Santhera by advancing our clinical projects with his team.”

“I am thrilled to be taking on the role of CMO at such a transformative point in the Company’s trajectory,” said Shabir Hasham, MD, newly appointed CMO of Santhera. “I look forward to helping drive Santhera’s mission in advancing vamorolone towards approval, first in the US and later in Europe, and clinically progressing lonodelestat, whilst working with the medical communities to leverage the transformational potential of our pipeline products in and beyond DMD and cystic fibrosis, respectively.”