SAN DIEGO, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Retrophin, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTRX) today announced the appointment of Suzanne L. Bruhn, Ph.D. to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Dr. Bruhn brings more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical experience and a proven track record of success in the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of serious diseases with significant unmet needs.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to welcome Sue to Retrophin,” said Gary Lyons, chairman of the Retrophin Board of Directors. “Sue’s breadth of experience across multiple therapeutic areas and her in-depth knowledge of both corporate and therapeutic development in the rare disease space will be of great value to Retrophin as we enter our next chapter of growth.”
Dr. Bruhn added: “Retrophin exemplifies a deep commitment to delivering treatments to patients and continues to be a leader in the rare disease community. I am excited to join the Board and look forward to contributing to the Company’s continued growth and success.”
Since May 2019, Dr. Bruhn has served as the president and chief executive officer of biotechnology company Tiaki Therapeutics Inc., where she is responsible for the vision and overall corporate and capital strategy of the company as it develops innovative therapeutics for patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to her role at Tiaki, Dr. Bruhn served as the president and chief executive officer of Proclara Biosciences where she led the company’s strategy to develop novel treatments for neurodegenerative and peripheral protein misfolding diseases. Before joining Proclara, Dr. Bruhn served as president and chief executive officer of Promedior, Inc., where she focused the company’s strategy on clinical stage development for rare diseases. Earlier in her career, Dr. Bruhn spent 13 years at Shire Human Genetic Therapies, where she held a series of positions of increasing responsibility, including leading global regulatory affairs, strategic planning and program management.
Dr. Bruhn currently serves as an independent director on the boards of clinical stage biotechnology companies Aeglea BioTherapeutics and Pliant Therapeutics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Iowa State University, a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Human Genetics at Harvard Medical School.
About Retrophin
Retrophin is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in identifying, developing and delivering life-changing therapies to people living with rare disease. The Company’s approach centers on its pipeline featuring sparsentan, a product candidate in late-stage development for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and IgA nephropathy (IgAN), rare disorders characterized by progressive scarring of the kidney often leading to end-stage renal disease. Research in additional rare diseases is also underway, including partnerships with leaders in patient advocacy and government research to identify potential therapeutics for NGLY1 deficiency and Alagille syndrome, conditions with no approved treatment options. Retrophin’s R&D efforts are supported by revenues from the Company’s commercial products Chenodal®, Cholbam®, Thiola® and Thiola EC®.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limiting the foregoing, these statements are often identified by the words "may", "might", "believes", "thinks", "anticipates", "plans", "expects", "intends" or similar expressions. In addition, expressions of our strategies, intentions or plans are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements are risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business and finances in general, success of its commercial products as well as risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's preclinical and clinical stage pipeline. Specifically, the Company faces risks associated with market acceptance of its marketed products including efficacy, safety, price, reimbursement and benefit over competing therapies. The risks and uncertainties the Company faces with respect to its preclinical and clinical stage pipeline include risk that the Company's clinical candidates will not be found to be safe or effective, and for each of its development programs, risk associated with enrollment of clinical trials for rare diseases and risk that ongoing or planned clinical trials may not succeed or may be delayed for safety, regulatory or other reasons and risk that the product candidates will not be approved for efficacy, safety, regulatory or other reasons. The Company faces risk that it will be unable to raise additional funding that may be required to complete development of any or all of its product candidates; risk relating to the Company's dependence on contractors for clinical drug supply and commercial manufacturing; uncertainties relating to patent protection and exclusivity periods and intellectual property rights of third parties; and risks and uncertainties relating to competitive products and technological changes that may limit demand for the Company's products. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, many of which are beyond our control. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Investors are referred to the full discussion of risks and uncertainties as included in the Company's most recent Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
Chris Cline, CFA
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
888-969-7879
IR@retrophin.com