WENDELSHEIM, Germany, September 4, 2019
MODAG today announced the appointment of Johannes Levin, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Levin brings with him over ten years of experience in the field of movement disorders, particularly in atypical Parkinsonism such as Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), along with a strong scientific background in protein aggregation.
He recently led a clinical MSA study with Prof. Dr. Armin Giese, CSO of MODAG; the findings were published in The Lancet Neurology. At MODAG, Dr. Levin will be responsible for advancing the company’s lead candidate, anle138b, into the clinic. He will report to Dr. Torsten Matthias, CEO of MODAG.
“As an expert in MSA and protein aggregation, Dr. Levin is a valuable addition to the MODAG team,” commented Dr. Torsten Matthias, CEO of MODAG. “With Dr. Levin as our CMO, we are in an excellent position to move into clinical evaluation under the direct supervision of a respected and experienced movement disorder specialist. We believe his official appointment to our company underscores MODAG’s potential in the neurodegenerative disease space.”
Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Johannes Levin, CMO of MODAG said: “MODAG is an exciting company with an innovative pipeline including compounds that offer the potential to be disease-modifying, which are urgently needed in neurodegenerative diseases. My previous work with MSA has solidified my understanding of the unmet need for a disease-altering drug for patients living with parkinsonian disorders like MSA and Parkinson’s disease; I believe MODAG has the opportunity to address this challenge as we move into the clinic.”
Dr. Levin is a Group Leader in the Neurodegenerative Diseases Group of the Department of Neurology of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). He has a proven track record for coordinating and leading academic research studies as well as industry-sponsored clinical trials. Dr. Levin serves as Principal Investigator to many clinical studies including the largest interventional MSA trial in Germany
and international cohort studies such as the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network (DIAN), and the Genetic Frontotemporal dementia Initiative (GENFI). Dr. Levin’s work has contributed to the definition of the natural history, environmental factors, and symptomatic treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. He holds a medical license and Doctor of Medicine from the LMU and is a board-certified neurologist at the Bavarian Chamber of Physicians (Landesärztekammer Bavaria). Dr. Levin has published over 100 scientific publications in leading scientific journals.
