Cerevance Appoints Karl Kieburtz as Chief Medical Officer

BOSTON, Oct. 05, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Cerevance, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing targeted therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, has appointed Karl Kieburtz, M.D., M.P.H., as its new chief medical officer. This move comes as the company advances its lead program, solengepras, through Phase 3 development.

Dr. Kieburtz brings extensive experience in neurology, clinical research, and drug development, having served in various capacities across dozens of global Parkinson’s disease clinical trials over the past three decades. His appointment is seen as a significant step in Cerevance’s efforts to bring a novel, non-dopaminergic treatment to patients living with Parkinson’s disease.

Prior to his official role, Dr. Kieburtz had been advising Cerevance on the development of solengepras for several years. He has also worked closely with the company’s investors and business partners, contributing to the clinical development of solengepras.

Dr. Kieburtz’s appointment underscores Cerevance’s commitment to advancing its non-dopaminergic approach to treating Parkinson’s disease. Solengepras, the company’s most advanced investigational treatment, is a once-daily, oral, non-dopaminergic therapy currently in Phase 3 development as an adjunctive treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The clinical data generated to date with solengepras are encouraging, and its mechanism has the potential to represent a significant evolution in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

In addition to his role as chief medical officer, Dr. Kieburtz will continue to serve on the board of directors of BlueRidge Life Sciences and maintain an advisory role with the company.

Cerevance is also developing a second investigational treatment, CVN293, a highly selective oral inhibitor targeting THIK1 (KCNK13), a two-pore potassium channel family member. CVN293 represents a potentially novel intervention point for neurodegenerative disorders. Both programs were validated using Cerevance’s proprietary platform, Nuclear Enriched Transcript Sort sequencing (NETSseq), which enables identification of potential drug targets from human brain samples expressed in specific cell types, including those present at very low levels or within rare cell populations, and whose expression may change as a disease progresses.

As Cerevance advances solengepras through the pivotal Phase 3 ARISE trial for Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Kieburtz’s leadership is expected to play a crucial role in translating the company’s differentiated approach into a meaningful therapy for patients. The trial is evaluating solengepras as an adjunctive therapy to levodopa and other background Parkinson’s disease medications, with a focus on reducing daily OFF time.