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UNWalid Abi-Saab — no licensed photograph is available, so the business leader plate is shown instead.

Business leader

Walid Abi-Saab

Chief Medical Officer, uniQure N.V.

Press citations

2

Topics

2

Rare diseases

Last quoted

Sept 2026

first cited Aug 2026

Walid Abi-Saab: key facts

Kind of voice
Business leader
Role
Chief Medical Officer
Organisation
uniQure N.V.
Quoted on
Rare diseases, Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
Tracked press citations
2
Most recently quoted
30 Sept 2026
First quoted
27 Aug 2026

Who Walid Abi-Saab is

Walid Abi-Saab, M.D., joined uniQure N.V. as Chief Medical Officer in June 2023, where he leads clinical research and development, regulatory affairs, and programme management for the gene therapy company. uniQure is a NASDAQ-listed, Amsterdam-headquartered biotechnology company focused on developing single-treatment gene therapies for severe genetic diseases, including Huntington's disease, epilepsy, and Fabry disease. Before joining uniQure, Dr Abi-Saab served as Chief Medical Officer at Galapagos NV from 2017 to 2022, where he oversaw Phase 3 studies of filgotinib in rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis; prior to that he was Group Vice President, Global Clinical Development at Shire (now Takeda), overseeing more than ten marketed rare-disease products. He received his M.D. from Université Saint Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon, and has more than 20 years of experience in global pharmaceutical R&D. He is prominently quoted in UK and international press in relation to uniQure's AMT-130 gene therapy for Huntington's disease, including its MHRA submission pathway and pivotal Phase I/II trial results showing 75% slowing of disease progression at high dose.

“Our hope is to gain some clarity on key design elements of an additional new study to evaluate the efficacy of AMT-130 and also to get feedback on the statistical analysis plan for the four-year data.”

References for this biography

  1. 1.Walid Abi-Saab, M.D. | Our Leadership | uniQure — Confirms role as CMO since June 2023, responsibilities, career history at Galapagos and Shire, and Jyseleca Phase 3 leadership
  2. 2.uniQure Announces Leadership Addition to Support Advancement of Clinical Programs | GlobeNewswire — Official appointment announcement; confirms 20+ years experience, 30+ molecules through clinical development, approvals in US/EU/Canada
  3. 3.Gene therapy appears to slow Huntington's disease progression | UCL News — UK press coverage quoting Dr Abi-Saab as uniQure CMO on AMT-130 pivotal Phase I/II topline results (75% slowing of HD progression)
  4. 4.AdCom expected for uniQure's Huntington's gene therapy, chief medical officer says | Pharmaceutical Technology — UK trade press quoting Dr Abi-Saab on FDA regulatory pathway for AMT-130 and UK patient population context
  5. 5.UniQure eyes UK approval for embattled Huntington's gene therapy after FDA quarrel | BioSpace — Establishes uniQure's active MHRA submission strategy for AMT-130 in UK, context of his role in UK regulatory engagement
  6. 6.Walid Abi-Saab joins uniQure | MedNous — Confirms MD from Université Saint Joseph, Beirut; prior role at Shire (now Takeda); Basel base
  7. 7.Contact | uniQure — Confirms uniQure biopharma B.V. head office address: Paasheuvelweg 25a, 1105BP Amsterdam

Notable achievements

  • Led uniQure's announcement of positive topline pivotal Phase I/II data for AMT-130, showing 75% slowing of Huntington's disease progression at high dose after 36 months Source ↗
  • Under his leadership at Galapagos, successfully completed Phase 3 studies of filgotinib (Jyseleca) in rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis Source ↗
  • Oversaw clinical development of more than 30 molecules advancing through clinical development, leading to approvals in the US, EU and Canada, across his career Source ↗
  • AMT-130 granted FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation in April 2025, with Dr Abi-Saab quoted as CMO in the announcement Source ↗
  • uniQure filed a pre-submission meeting with the MHRA for AMT-130 and planned a UK marketing authorisation application for Q3 2026, with Dr Abi-Saab as CMO driving the regulatory strategy Source ↗

What Walid Abi-Saab has said

Where Walid Abi-Saab has been quoted

  1. FDA to reconsider shock rejection of cell therapy Ebvallo. Could uniQure be next?fiercepharma.com · 30 Sept 2026
  2. Huntington’s disease treated successfully for first time in UK gene therapy trialtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

Contact & links

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.

Owners, executives and investors of care providers, operators and suppliers speaking for their business. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 5 Oct 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.