Former Compass Interim Clinical Sciences Director Joins Clerkenwell Health as CMO
Clerkenwell Health bolsters management team with experienced Chief Medical Officer Dr Emilio Arbe and prepares for rapid growth.
Clerkenwell Health is ramping up in-house expertise and capabilities to bring effective and accessible mental health treatments to patients with unmet clinical need. With over 25 years’ experience in clinical development and medical affairs across a range of biotech and pharmaceutical companies, Dr Arbe’s expertise is an invaluable addition to Clerkenwell Health.
Dr Arbe joins the Clerkenwell Leadership team alongside: CEO Tom McDonald, a former IQVIA pharmaceutical specialist, CSO Dr Henry Fisher, a drug policy expert and chemist who previously worked at The Beckley Foundation and Helen McAskill, Clinical Operations Director, with leadership experience at Covance and MAC Group. The team now contains a wealth of expertise across regulatory strategy, psychedelics, clinical operations and trial design allowing Clerkenwell to offer bespoke services to drug developers at any stage of their clinical development journey.
In his new role, Dr Arbe will take oversight of the design and regulatory submissions of clinical trials to international regulators. He will also work on-site at Clerkenwell’s research centre of excellence to ensure the smooth delivery of trials. His passion for innovation and patient-centred care will be an asset to Clerkenwell and its customers.
Dr Arbe has previously supported COMPASS Pathways as Interim Clinical Sciences Director. COMPASS are global leaders in the clinical development of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression.
As a medical doctor qualified in Spain, Dr Arbe specialised in psychiatry at the Warneford Hospital Oxford, where he trained in child and adolescent psychiatry, eating disorders and psychotherapy. His special interests include autistic spectrum disorders, ADHD and addictions.
Dr Arbe started his pharmaceutical career in Germany working for Grunethal, where he researched the abuse potential of tramadol as compared with other opioids. He later moved to France, where he worked for Lipha on the development of acamprosate for the treatment of alcohol addiction. Since settling in the UK, he’s been working as a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical physician across a number of therapeutic areas.
Dr Arbe has also advised Kyowa Kirin and BIAL on the late-stage development and launch of istradefylline and opicapone for the management of Parkinson’s disease as well as working as CNS consultant for Fulcrum Pharma. He researched the use of gamma-interferon in advanced AIDS at Boehringer Ingelheim and was responsible for managing the early access of nevirapine in the advent of highly effective antiretroviral therapy for HIV.
Tom McDonald, Clerkenwell Health CEO commented, “We are incredibly happy to welcome Emilio to the Clerkenwell Team. He has a wealth of experience designing and running clinical trials across a range of neurological conditions and therapeutics. In particular, his understanding of psychedelics and the importance of a holistic treatment experience with robust scientific underpinning is in-line with how we look at these treatments. He is also incredibly patient-centric in his approach so I look forward to embedding these elements within our clients' upcoming trials.”
Dr Emilio Arbe said, “It’s an enormous privilege for me to join a team of professionals, who have a wealth of expertise, combined with the scientific rigor and necessary humility to apply it wisely. Clerkenwell Health, as I see it, stands to play a key role in shaping the future of psychedelic-assisted therapies”.
This new appointment cements Clerkenwell Health as a serious European player within the growing commercial psychedelic research ecosystem.
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About Clerkenwell Health
Clerkenwell Health is an innovative, UK-based mental health start-up building a platform to accelerate patients’ access to a range of psychedelic-assisted therapies over the coming years. Clerkenwell is focused on helping its clients generate the clinical data required to mainstream these exciting treatment methodologies with doctors and regulators alike.
The team is led by CEO Tom McDonald, a former Accenture pharmaceutical specialist with a focus on patient-centric care and CSO Dr Henry Fisher, a chemist and drug policy expert. Patient therapy is led by Dr Sara Tai, a clinical psychologist, a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester and an expert in psychotherapy in clinical trials of psychedelic medicine. www.clerkenwellhealth.com