Celtaxsys Welcomes New Board Member Abel De La Rosa

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwired - January 09, 2017) - Celtaxsys, a clinical stage pharmaceutical development company focused on advancing novel anti-inflammatory treatment for rare and orphan diseases, announced today the appointment of Dr. Abel De La Rosa to the company board of directors. He currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer for the Drug Innovations Venture at Emory (DRIVE) and the Emory Institute for Drug Development (EIDD), both based at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. He was formerly Senior Vice President of Business Development and Scientific Affairs at Pharmasset, Inc. before it was acquired by Gilead in 2012. Prior to Pharmasset, he was Vice President of Product Development at Visible Genetics leading the design and development of commercial molecular diagnostic tests for HIV, HCV, and HBV, such as the TruGene HIV-1 genotyping test and OpenGene DNA Sequencing System, the first FDA-approved genotyping sequencing-based test. He previously held scientific positions at Innogenetics, Boston Biomedica, and Digene, developing commercial molecular diagnostic tests for infectious diseases. He is an inventor and author on several U.S. patents and publications relating to his work.

"We are excited to have Dr. De La Rosa join our board," said Celtaxsys CEO Greg Duncan. "He brings a wealth of experience in business transactions and strategic insights in drug development that will enhance our thought process."

Celtaxsys is currently conducting a landmark phase 2 clinical trial of its flagship compound once-daily oral acebilustat in adult cystic fibrosis patients (EMPIRE-CF). The trial is being conducted in the US, Canada, and the EU. For more information about the EMPIRE-CF trial, please visit https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02443688.

About Cystic Fibrosis: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening disease that affects the lung and digestive system and impacts about 70,000 patients worldwide. CF is caused by mutations in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene leading to abnormal CFTR protein functioning, the result of which causes the body to accumulate excessive levels of unusually thick mucus in the lungs. Respiratory distress in CF, defined as acute difficulty in breathing, infection and/or hospitalization, is most commonly related to lung infection and inflammation induced lung tissue damage. Treatment of lung inflammation is thought to be key to improving CF patients' lung health and well-being. For more information on cystic fibrosis, go to www.cff.org.

About acebilustat (formerly CTX-4430): Acebilustat is a once-daily oral drug candidate being tested for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. It is a novel small molecule inhibitor of Leukotriene A4 Hydrolase (LTA4H), the key enzyme in the production of the potent inflammatory mediator Leukotriene B4 (LTB4). LTA4H and LTB4 have been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases involving inflammation, including cystic fibrosis.

About Celtaxsys: Celtaxsys, Inc. is a privately-held pharmaceutical discovery and development company focused on advancing medicine to treat patients suffering from serious inflammatory diseases. The company is developing a sustainable pipeline of first-in-class immune-modulators, including its flagship compound acebilustat (formerly CTX-4430). Our follow-on molecules enable new intellectual property and exhibit differentiated properties that allow optimization for alternate routes of administration. For more information, please visit: http://www.celtaxsys.com.