Ghent, Belgium, October 1st 2024 – Obulytix, a pre-clinical stage biotech company pioneering phage lysin-based antibiotics to fight antibiotic-resistant infections, announces the appointment of Dr. Kristof Van Emelen as its new Chief Executive Officer and board member. Dr. Van Emelen will lead Obulytix through its transition from a technology-focused company to a drug development company. This appointment is a significant step towards delivering on Obulytix’s commitment to combat antimicrobial resistance and provide transformative therapies to patients globally.

Dr. Van Emelen brings over 25 years of experience in drug discovery, early-stage drug development and executive leadership within the Life Sciences sector. Most recently, he served as Vice President Drug Discovery at Scenic Biotech in The Netherlands, where he headed the discovery and preclinical evaluation of first-in-class small molecule modalities as therapeutic solution for rare diseases.

Prior to his tenure with Scenic Biotech, Dr. Van Emelen held senior leadership roles at Ermium Therapeutics, as Head Medicinal Chemistry, and as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the VIB, leading the scientific and technical validation of an innovative biotherapeutics platform. Between 1997 and 2017, Dr. Van Emelen held various scientific and leadership positions at Johnson & Johnson, across different therapeutic areas. Dr. Van Emelen holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from KU Leuven.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Yves Briers, who will transition into the role of CSO, played a crucial role in establishing the company. He secured the funding for company creation, oversaw the implementation of the technology platform with the founding team and initiated the first discovery project. As CSO, Prof. Dr. Ir. Briers will continue to support and guide Obulytix in its further development.

With Dr. Van Emelen’s appointment as the new CEO, Obulytix is well-positioned to successfully expand its research and development activities into its next phase.

Kristof Van Emelen, CEO of Obulytix, said: “I sincerely look forward to working with the talented team at Obulytix and with its committed board members to deliver on our mission, which is to develop this groundbreaking class of engineered lysins into safe and effective precision antibiotics for life-threatening infections.”

Yves Briers, CSO and Professor at Ghent University, added: “I am delighted to pass on the reins of Obulytix to Kristof. His vision and expertise will undoubtedly drive the company to new heights. I look forward to continuing my support for Obulytix in my new role as CSO and witnessing its future successes.”

Niklas Czeloth, Investment Manager at Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and currently interim Chair of the Board, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Kristof to his new role at Obulytix. His extensive expertise in the Biotech and Pharma sector will undoubtedly strengthen our mission to fight AMR infections, which are a looming global crisis. We are confident that Kristof's leadership will help the Obulytix team accelerating their development of active phage lysins. Additionally, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Yves for leading Obulytix’s activities over the past year. We look forward to his continued support in his role as CSO, contributing scientifically to the company’s future endeavors”

About Obulytix

Obulytix is a biotech company pioneering the discovery and development of first-in-class phage lysin-based antibiotics designed to combat the most severe antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Originally a spin-off from Ghent University and KU Leuven and incorporated in 2023, Obulytix is at the forefront of addressing the global antimicrobial resistance crisis with its innovative phage lysin-based platform, enabled by advanced high-throughput screening methods, AI and state-of-the-art protein engineering.

Phage lysins are powerful enzymes derived from bacterial viruses known as bacteriophages.

These enzymes represent a broad class of antibiotics that can be engineered to target specific bacterial infections, reducing the likelihood of resistance development compared to traditional antibiotics. Obulytix’s proprietary platform excels in both efficiency and throughput, enabling the rapid development of engineered phage lysins.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) continues to pose a major global public health threat. In 2021 alone, AMR was associated with the deaths of 4.71 million individuals¹. One out of every five deaths related to AMR occurred in children under the age of 5, underscoring the urgent need for new effective antimicrobial therapeutics.

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¹ Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance 1990–2021: a systematic analysis with forecasts to 2050.  The Lancet 2024; https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(24)01867-1, accessed 20 September, 2024

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^{From left to right: Kristof Van Emelen - Maria Fonseca - Dennis Grimon – Yves Briers - Bjorn Criel}