PureTech Health, a cross-disciplinary biopharmaceutical company, has announced the appointment of Atul Pande, M.D., as the company’s chief medical officer. In this new role, Dr. Pande will oversee all clinical operations across PureTech Health’s pipeline and work closely with the team to de-risk and advance opportunities that hold the most potential for patients.

Dr. Pande commented: “I am proud and delighted to join this stellar team and hope to be instrumental in enabling the launch of some of the truly innovative medicines in the PureTech Health pipeline. Having been involved in clinical research and development for more than twenty years, I believe that the PureTech Health approach—which starts with ground-breaking science and signals of human efficacy and stresses safety—has important advantages.”

“We are excited to work more closely with Atul and to have access to his drug development expertise across PureTech Health’s pipeline,” said Daphne Zohar, chief executive officer of PureTech Health. “Atul is a seasoned drug development veteran who will help to shepherd our advancing pipeline through mid- and late-stage clinical trials while ensuring that synergies are leveraged across our platforms.”

Dr. Pande has more than two decades of experience in drug development. He is the former senior vice president, head of Neuroscience, and senior advisor, Pharmaceutical R&D at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Pande has been active in the development of multiple investigational and now marketed drugs while holding various senior roles in Pfizer R&D, Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert, and Lilly Research Laboratories. His experience includes drug development, registration, launch and lifecycle management in the areas of anxiety, depression, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

Dr. Pande is a psychiatrist and fellow of several scientific societies, including the American Psychiatric Association. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of PureTech’s Karuna Pharmaceuticals. He also sits on the Board of Axovant Sciences (NYSE:AXON), and Autifony Therapeutics and on the Scientific Advisory Board of Cennerv Pharma. Dr. Pande began his career as a faculty member at the University of Michigan Medical School where his research focused on mood disorders. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and over 100 abstracts, book chapters, and book reviews.