Expanded roles for Guenther and Mickle support broader evolution into a leading rare disease company
CELEBRATION, Fla., Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KemPharm, Inc. (NasdaqGS: KMPH) (KemPharm, or the Company), a rare disease therapeutics company focused on the development of treatments for rare central nervous system (CNS) disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, lysosomal storage disorders and related treatment areas, announced the promotions of Sven Guenther, Ph.D., to Chief Scientific Officer, and Christal M.M. Mickle, M.A., to Chief Product Development Officer. Ms. Mickle, a co-founder of KemPharm, and Dr. Guenther have been members of KemPharm’s leadership team since the early days of the Company.
“Christal and Sven have been integral to KemPharm’s growth and success, and we look forward to benefiting from their expertise as we continue our strategic transformation into a leading rare disease company,” said Richard W. Pascoe, Chief Executive Officer of KemPharm. “Key to maximizing our value will be the New Drug Application (NDA) resubmission for arimoclomol to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the ongoing development of our product portfolio, led by KP1077, and the advancement of our research and development efforts. Christal and Sven will continue to be instrumental to these endeavors, as well as continuing to provide important perspective as KemPharm embarks on a new chapter in its corporate evolution.”
Ms. Mickle, who co-founded and has held a variety of positions at KemPharm, most recently served as Senior Vice President, Operations and Product Development. In this role, she managed the development of each of KemPharm’s products through strategic collaborations across the various drug development disciplines including clinical, regulatory, nonclinical, and manufacturing, enabling efficient use of funds and the ability to meet timelines and milestones. Before founding KemPharm in 2006, Ms. Mickle started her career as a Research Associate for New River Pharmaceuticals, preparing compounds in ADHD, pain, and thyroid dysfunctions for further study. Throughout her more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Ms. Mickle has been involved in early discovery as a medicinal chemist, starting and helping build a pharmaceutical company, and interacting with the FDA. In addition, her efforts managing a team of talented scientists has led to the approval of three NDAs. Ms. Mickle received her M.A. degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Virginia and her B.A. and B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry, respectively, from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She is also listed as an inventor on several patents.
Dr. Guenther was one of the first members of KemPharm, most recently serving as the company’s Executive Vice President of Research and Development. In this role, he was a key contributor to the strategy and execution of all of KemPharm’s early discovery work, as well as, the development and approval of three NDAs. As Chief Scientific Officer, he will continue to lead KemPharm’s research team and play a central role in the advancement of the company’s pipeline. Dr. Guenther previously served as a Research Scientist for New River Pharmaceuticals, where he was part of the development team for Vyvanse®. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and is listed as an inventor on numerous patents, as well as an author of several research papers.
About KemPharm:
KemPharm is a rare disease therapeutics company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel treatments for rare CNS and neurodegenerative diseases, lysosomal storage disorders and related treatment areas. KemPharm has a diverse product portfolio, combining a clinical-stage development pipeline with NDA-stage and commercial assets. The pipeline includes arimoclomol, an orally-delivered, first-in-class investigational product candidate for Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC), and KP1077, which the Company is developing as a treatment for idiopathic hypersomnia (IH), a rare neurological sleep disorder, and narcolepsy. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved AZSTARYS®, a once-daily treatment for ADHD in patients age six years and older containing KemPharm’s prodrug, serdexmethylphenidate (SDX), which is being commercialized by Corium, Inc. in the U.S. The FDA has also approved APADAZ®, an immediate-release combination product containing benzhydrocodone, KemPharm’s prodrug of hydrocodone, and acetaminophen, which is being commercialized by KVK-Tech, Inc. in the U.S. For more information on KemPharm and its pipeline of product candidates, visit www.kempharm.com or connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.
Early access programs are made available by KemPharm, Inc. and its affiliates, and are subject to the Company’s Early Access Program (EAP) policy as published on its website at www.kempharm.com. Participation in these programs is subject to the laws and regulations of each jurisdiction under which each respective program is operated. Eligibility for participation in any such program is at the discretion of the treating physician.
Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts, including without limitation and which can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “project,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “should,” “continue,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “predict,” or the negative versions of those words or other comparable words or expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future actions or performance. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the promise and potential impact of our preclinical or clinical trial data, including without limitation the initiation, timing and results of any clinical trials or readouts, the timing or results of any Investigational New Drug applications and New Drug Application (NDA) submissions, KP1077, SDX, or any other product candidates for any specific disease indication or at any dosage, the potential benefits of any of KemPharm’s product candidates, and our strategic and product development objectives. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to KemPharm and its current plans or expectations and are subject to a number of known and unknown uncertainties, risks and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These and other important factors are described in detail in the “Risk Factors” section of KemPharm’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, as updated by KemPharm’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2022, and KemPharm’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
KemPharm Contacts:
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
Jason Rando/Daniel Kontoh-Boateng
jrando@tiberend.com
dboateng@tiberend.com
