MELBOURNE, Australia, April 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENA Respiratory, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing antiviral host defence enhancers to minimize the impact of symptomatic viral respiratory infections, today announces the appointment of Melissa Faris as an independent Non-Executive Director.
Melissa is Chief Business Officer of OMass Therapeutics, a leading UK-based private biotechnology company, and was previously Vice President and Head of Immunology Business Development at GSK where she led a team responsible for end-to-end business development activities for immunology and infectious diseases.
In her twenty-year career at GSK, Melissa held a number of roles in respiratory medicines including Clinical Development Director, Respiratory Medicines and Head of Respiratory Business Development. She has contributed to development programs for respiratory medicines from Phase 1 through to registration and launch.
In addition to her roles at OMass and ENA, she serves on the Business Development Advisory Board of Sunstone Life Science Ventures and was previously a Non-Executive Board member for Sitryx Therapeutics.
Melissa Faris, Non-Executive Director of ENA Respiratory said, “I am truly excited to be joining the Board of ENA Respiratory. I have followed the company’s progress for a number of years and believe its innovative approach to reducing the often-devastating impacts of viral respiratory infections could offer a new option for millions of vulnerable patients worldwide.”
ENA Respiratory’s CEO, Christophe Demaison, PhD said: “We are proud to appoint Melissa to our Board. The depth and breadth of her pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry experience is exceptional and her international contacts and perspective, and relevant expertise in the respiratory and immunology space can only benefit ENA Respiratory as we continue to advance the clinical development of INNA-051.”
About ENA Respiratory
ENA Respiratory is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company tackling respiratory viral infections through the development of host defence enhancers which locally prime and boost the body’s natural first line of defence against invading pathogens. Being virus-agnostic, ENA’s approach offers a solution to protect against common and emerging respiratory viruses for which vaccines or direct-acting antivirals have limitations or do not exist.
The company’s lead product, INNA-051, is being developed as a convenient, once-a-week nasal dry powder product to reduce the impact of viral respiratory infections and prevent severe complications in at-risk populations, including the elderly, those with an underlying medical condition (including chronic lung conditions, diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease) and individuals with occupational risk (e.g. first responders, military or essential services personnel).
INNA-051 is a potent agonist of toll-like receptor 2/6 (TLR2/6) which plays a key role in recognising pathogens and potentiating innate immune responses. With a safety profile supporting seasonal prophylaxis use, it has demonstrated accelerated virus clearance and stimulation of antiviral host defences, including IFN Type I & III responses, in a Phase IIa proof-of-principle study using a human influenza-challenge model.
Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with operations in the USA, ENA’s Investors include Brandon Capital, Flu Lab, the Gates Foundation, the Minderoo Foundation, Stoic Venture Capital and Uniseed. The Company is partnered with the US COPD Foundation to support patient-focused clinical development of INNA-051 in COPD and has been awarded contracts from the U.S. Government. It is an alumni member of BLUE KNIGHT™, a joint initiative between Johnson & Johnson Innovation and BARDA designed to accelerate novel potential solutions for future pandemics.
For more information, please visit https://enarespiratory.com
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/enarespiratory-pty-ltd/
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Media – Australia
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