COUR Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel immune-modifying nanoparticles designed to reprogram the immune system, appointed Dannielle Appelhans as Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Appelhans will oversee and execute the company’s research and development, technical development, technical operations, and quality as well as be a significant contributor to corporate strategy and other business operations.

Appelhans served most recently as the CEO of Rubius Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-phase biopharmaceutical company pioneering cellular medicines. She previously served as its COO, where she oversaw corporate strategy, communications, quality, technical development, and operations. Since 2022, she has served on the board of directors and as a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee for Generation Bio Co.

Prior to joining Rubius, she worked at Novartis and held roles of increasing responsibility in operations and strategy culminating in her serving as senior vice president, head of global supply chain across all divisions, and finally as senior vice president of technical operations and chief technical officer at Novartis Gene Therapies. Before joining Novartis, Appelhans was a senior engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, working in the pharmaceutical operations practice. 

“Dannielle’s extensive leadership and cross-functional expertise across organizations ranging in size from large global commercial operations to biopharma startups presents an ideal background to lead and scale our internal operations capabilities while applying her wealth of experience into our long-term strategic planning to prepare COUR for late-stage clinical studies, commercialization and beyond,” said John Puisis, Founder & CEO of COUR. “Dannielle’s operating experience will be pivotal in accelerating COUR’s therapeutic programs and positioning COUR in becoming a world class leader in antigen-specific immune tolerance.”

Appelhans said, “COUR represents an ideal opportunity to apply my relevant skill set at an important inflection point in the Company’s evolution in bringing two promising, proprietary autoimmune programs to treat Myasthenia Gravis and type 1 diabetes into human proof-of-concept studies in the near-term. I am genuinely excited to collaborate with the exceptional team at COUR as we collectively work to fulfill the transformative potential of COUR’s nanoparticle technology in bringing disease-modifying, first-in-class therapies to market for patients and significantly advance the science of immune tolerance.”