SAN DIEGO, March 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:CDTX), a biotechnology company developing novel anti-infectives including immunotherapies, today announced the appointment of Chrysa Mineo to the company’s board of directors. Ms. Mineo’s appointment increases the size of the Cidara board of directors to seven.
Ms. Mineo has more than 25 years of operational experience in biopharmaceutical drug development, with strategic leadership roles at leading public biotechnology companies, including 19 years with San Diego-based Receptos and Neurocrine Biosciences.
“Chrysa brings to Cidara a wealth of experience and a track record of success in the biopharmaceutical industry,” said Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Cidara. “In particular, we expect that her operational business development experience will be of tremendous value as we approach proof-of-concept clinical data for rezafungin and key preclinical data for our Cloudbreak ADC program.”
From 2009 to 2015, Ms. Mineo led corporate development at Receptos, Inc., where strategic partnering efforts for the Phase 3 immunology candidate ozanimod resulted in the company’s acquisition by Celgene. During her tenure she played a key role in the Receptos initial public offering (IPO) and established product and technology collaborations with AbbVie, Ono, Eli Lilly and Janssen. Prior to Receptos, Ms. Mineo held roles of increasing business development responsibility at Neurocrine Biosciences from 1997 to 2009, where she led or played a primary role in negotiating and closing more than 25 transactions, including worldwide or regional product candidate collaborations from Phase 1 to registration and product in-licensing transactions. Prior to Neurocrine, Ms. Mineo served in various capacities in research, marketing and business development for such companies as Amgen, DNAX Research Institute, Schering Plough and Baxter Biotech. Ms. Mineo holds a B.S. in Zoology from the University of California, Davis and an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
“Improved pharmacokinetic properties position rezafungin to significantly contribute to the armamentarium of anti-fungal therapy,” said Ms. Mineo. “In particular, the planned upcoming Phase 3 prophylactic trial of once-weekly rezafungin in allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) has the potential to decrease rates of invasive fungal infections (IFI), which remain a leading cause of infection-related mortality in patients with hematological and oncological disorders. I look forward to working with Cidara’s outstanding Board and management team to advance this improved echinocandin and further explore novel anti-microbial candidates resulting from the Cloudbreak™ Immunotherapy Discovery Platform.”
About Cidara Therapeutics
Cidara is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new anti-infectives that have the potential to transform the standard of care and save or improve patients’ lives. The company is currently advancing its novel echinocandin antifungal, rezafungin acetate, formerly called CD101 IV, through Phase 2 and developing its antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. Rezafungin has improved pharmacokinetics compared to existing echinocandins and has the potential for expanded utility across patient settings. Rezafungin is the only once-weekly product candidate in development for the treatment and prevention of life-threatening invasive fungal infections. Cidara is developing its antibody-drug conjugates as part of its novel Cloudbreak™ platform, the first immunotherapy discovery platform designed specifically to create compounds that directly kill pathogens and also direct a patient’s immune cells to attack and eliminate bacterial, fungal or viral pathogens. Cidara is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, please visit www.cidara.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, Cidara’s ability to successfully continue the clinical development of rezafungin and the preclinical development of our Cloudbreak program. Risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: the success and timing of Cidara’s preclinical studies and clinical trials; regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries; changes in Cidara’s plans to develop and commercialize its product candidates; Cidara’s ability to obtain additional financing; Cidara’s ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its product candidates; and the loss of key scientific or management personnel. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Cidara’s Form 10-Q most recently filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Cidara undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.
INVESTOR CONTACT:
Robert H. Uhl
Westwicke Partners, LLC
Managing Director
(858) 356-5932
robert.uhl@westwicke.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
Christy Curran
Sam Brown Inc.
615-414-8668
ChristyCurran@sambrown.com