SAN DIEGO, Oct. 27, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ciclofilin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Ciclofilin” or the “Company”), a developer of broad spectrum antiviral medications, announced today the appointment of Stephen F. Keane as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development. In this role, Mr. Keane will be responsible for structuring, negotiating and executing successful strategic alliances and co-development agreements, as well as providing general corporate development leadership to the Company.
Mr. Keane has an accomplished record of corporate development success within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He brings over 25 years of experience to Ciclofilin. Mr. Keane has held several key leadership positions with leading life sciences companies, including Staurus Pharmaceuticals, Femta Pharmaceuticals, Ambit Biosciences, Cosmo Pharmaceutical, Dendreon, Corvas, Epimmune, SIBIA Neurosciences and Molecular Biosystems. In these roles, he was responsible for identifying and securing several critical collaborations, including major discovery partnerships with an aggregate value of over $800 million in upfront and licensing payments. In addition, Mr. Keane was lead negotiator in the acquisition of SIBIA by Merck & Co., Inc., and in the merger agreement between Corvas and Dendreon Corporation.
Cosme Ordonez, MD, PhD, President of Ciclofilin, stated, “It is a great pleasure to welcome Stephen to our management team. He brings valuable corporate development skills, experience and contacts from across the pharmaceutical industry. Our first collaborative discussions are underway, and Stephen’s presence will enable us to intensify our efforts to complete development agreements in the coming months.”
About Ciclofilin Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Ciclofilin Pharmaceuticals, is a life sciences company based in San Diego, California, with R&D facilities in Edmonton, Canada. The company’s drug pipeline is uniquely designed to specifically target the host by rendering host cells resistant to viral infection. Unlike virtually all other antivirals used in practice or in development, Ciclofilin’s antivirals do not target the virus. By targeting the host and not the virus, Ciclofilin’s lead drug is less susceptible to emerging resistance and is truly pangenotypic. Ciclofilin is developing a broad spectrum antiviral for the treatment of patients co-infected with hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B (HBV) and HIV-1 viruses. Approximately 25% of HIV-1 patients are co-infected with HCV. Co-infected patients progress at a faster rate to end-stage liver disease than mono-infected patients. End-stage liver disease (liver inflammation and fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) is the main cause of morbidity and mortality for HIV patients, and cyclophilin inhibitors as a class are known to exhibit anti-fibrotic properties, which may further amplify the benefits of this approach to treating viral infections. Ciclofilin is also testing its candidate medicine in additional antiviral indications, including human papilloma virus (HPV), coronaviruses and others.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including with respect to the potential of our lead drug CPI-431-32 for the treatment of human viral diseases. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the significance of our preclinical results and potential applications of our compound for the treatment of co-infected patients. Statements that are not historical facts are based on our management’s current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our business and the industry in which we operate and our management’s beliefs and assumptions. The statements contained in this release are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this release, and and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Ciclofilin undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, except as required by applicable law.
CONTACT: Investor Contact Ciclofilin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Cosme Ordonez 619-701-5374 cordonez@ciclofilin.com Media Contact Stephen Kilmer 647.872.4849 skilmer@ciclofilin.com
Help employers find you! Check out all the jobs and post your resume.
