Former Merck & Co exec to lead Seres

Seres has appointed Dr Roger Pomerantz, formerly a senior figure at Merck & Co, to lead the company as CEO and chairman.

Dr Pomerantz was senior VP and worldwide head of licensing and acquisitions at Merck & Co, overseeing all licensing and acquisition activities at the company. This included external research and academic alliances.

He will now lead a company making advances in treat infectious diseases, with Seres' lead candidate a potential treatment for clostridium difficile (C. difficile).

Dr Pomerantz has considerable experience in the area of infectious diseases, serving as global franchise head of infectious diseases at Merck immediately prior to his role in licensing and acquisitions. 

Previously he was global head of infectious diseases for Johnson & Johnson having joined the company as president of its Tiobtec Pharmacueticals division, now known as Janssen Therapeutics.

In total Dr Pomerantz has been involved with the development of eight approved drugs for infectious diseases, covering HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis.

"With our lead product currently in clinical testing for the treatment of recurrent C. difficile, and a rapidly growing pipeline, Roger's expertise is ideally suited to provide the leadership that can execute on Seres' pioneering vision,” said Dr Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of Seres.