Former Baxter and Baxalta Chief Financial Officer brings more than 30 years of biotech financial and operational experience
BOSTON, March 11, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, noted that its Founded Entity, Seaport Therapeutics, ("Seaport") a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is advancing novel neuropsychiatric medicines with a proven strategy and team, today announced that Robert "Bob" J. Hombach has been appointed to its Board of Directors and will serve as the Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Hombach is a seasoned financial and operational executive with three decades of high-level leadership in the healthcare sector. His experience includes serving on the Audit, Finance and Compensation Committees for several public and private Boards of Directors, such as FORTUNE 500 companies like BioMarin (NASDAQ: BMRN), where he also chairs the Audit Committee, and Henry Schein (NASDAQ: HSIC), a member of the S&P 500® index.
The full text of the announcement from Seaport is as follows:
Seaport Therapeutics Appoints Robert J. Hombach to its Board of Directors as Audit Committee Chair
Former Baxter and Baxalta Chief Financial Officer brings more than 30 years of biotech financial and operational experience
BOSTON, March 11, 2025 – Seaport Therapeutics ("Seaport" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is advancing novel neuropsychiatric medicines with a proven strategy and team, today announced that Robert "Bob" J. Hombach has been appointed to its Board of Directors and will serve as the Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Hombach is a seasoned financial and operational executive with three decades of high-level leadership in the healthcare sector. His experience includes serving on the Audit, Finance and Compensation Committees for several public and private Boards of Directors, such as FORTUNE 500 companies like BioMarin (NASDAQ: BMRN), where he also chairs the Audit Committee, and Henry Schein (NASDAQ: HSIC), a member of the S&P 500® index.
"We are excited to add Bob to our board. His financial and operational expertise perfectly complements the outstanding group of industry leaders on our board," said Daphne Zohar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Seaport Therapeutics. "His deep understanding of the financial and operational intricacies of growing biotech companies will be an asset to Seaport as we advance our pipeline through important milestones, with the goal of delivering potentially life-changing neuropsychiatric medicines to patients and their families."
Mr. Hombach served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer of Baxalta (NYSE: BXLT), a $6 billion global biopharmaceutical company, until it was acquired by Shire plc. in 2016. He was instrumental in Baxalta’s successful spin off from its parent company, Baxter (NYSE: BAX), a nearly $18 billion company, where he previously served as Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. While at Baxter, he led the company’s strategic restructuring process and oversaw its venture capital investments through the Baxter Ventures Fund. In addition to his board positions at BioMarin and Henry Schein, Mr. Hombach is the Chair of the Audit Committee at Embecta (NASDAQ: EMBC), a global diabetes care company spun out of Becton Dickinson, and has held previous board positions at several other companies including Naurex, Inc., which was acquired by Allergan in 2015.
"Seaport is a new breed of company that is in a unique position to change the lives of patients with depression and anxiety disorders, and I am honored to contribute to the Company’s growth at such a pivotal time," said Mr. Hombach. "Seaport’s scientific approach to advancing neuropsychiatric medicines is exciting and differentiated, and I look forward to supporting the Company’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of financial oversight and governance as it continues its mission to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families impacted by these conditions."
Mr. Hombach has earned numerous accolades, including recognition by IR Magazine as a Top 100 US CFO ranked seventh in both 2013 and 2014. He was also honored as a Board Leadership Fellow by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Mr. Hombach holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.S. in Finance cum laude from the University of Colorado.
About Seaport Therapeutics Seaport Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing the development of novel neuropsychiatric medicines in areas of high unmet patient needs. The Company has a proven strategy of advancing clinically validated mechanisms previously held back by limitations that are overcome with its proprietary GlyphTM technology platform. All the therapeutic candidates in its pipeline of first and best-in-class medicines are based on the Glyph platform, which is uniquely designed to enable oral bioavailability, bypass first-pass metabolism and reduce liver enzyme elevations or hepatotoxicity and other side effects. Seaport is led by an experienced team that invented and advanced important neuropsychiatric medicines and are guided by an extensive network of renowned scientists, clinicians and key opinion leaders. For more information, please visit www.seaporttx.com.
About PureTech Health PureTech is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to new classes of medicine to change the lives of patients with devastating diseases. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders that is being advanced both internally and through its Founded Entities. PureTech's R&D engine has resulted in the development of 29 therapeutics and therapeutic candidates, including three that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A number of these programs are being advanced by PureTech or its Founded Entities in various indications and stages of clinical development, including registration enabling studies. All of the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of therapeutic candidates were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key validation points.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on X (formerly Twitter) @puretechh.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation those related to Seaport’s development plans for its pipeline of neuropsychiatric therapeutics based on the Glyph Platform, the applicability of the platform beyond neuropsychiatry, potential benefits to patients, and Seaport’s and our future prospects, developments and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks, uncertainties and other important factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC and in our other regulatory filings. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the Company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, we disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
