Exonate Ltd has appointed Olav Hellebø as chief executive officer to strengthen its executive team and advance towards major clinical and corporate milestones, including a Phase 2b clinical trial of the company’s lead candidate EXN407 for diabetic eye disease. Mr Hellebø brings extensive business and scientific experience in the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.
Previous roles include as CEO of ReNeuron Group Plc when he in-licensed a retinitis pigmentosa programme from Schepens Eye Research Institute and completed equity financings of $125 million. Other senior roles were at Schering-Plough (now Merck) leading the US biotech and oncology business unit, chief operating officer of Novartis UK and president of immunology at UCB. He is currently chair at Blue Cell Therapeutics and ION Therapeutics. Catherine Beech, one of Exonate’s co-founders who served as CEO, was named a board director.
Exonate announced the appointment on 30 June 2026.
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