SAN DIEGO, Aug. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mast
Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: MSTX), an emerging biopharmaceutical
company, announced today that Santosh Vetticaden, Chief Medical
Officer and Senior Vice President, will be leaving the Company, for
personal reasons, in mid-September. Edwin L. Parsley, D.O., the Chief Medical
Officer of Aires Pharmaceuticals, which Mast acquired earlier this
year, will assume Dr. Vetticaden's former responsibilities as the
Company's interim Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Parsley
previously was with Pfizer, where he oversaw clinical trials for
Revatio® (sildenafil). He is a practicing physician and
certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal
medicine, pulmonary disease, critical care medicine, and sleep
medicine. Dr. Parsley has been actively engaged with the
Company since Aires was acquired by Mast in February
2014.
"We want to thank Santosh for his many contributions and wish
him the very best in his future endeavors," said Brian Culley, Chief Executive Officer. "Santosh
has put in place a strong clinical operations group that has us
well-positioned to advance our programs through late-stage
development. In addition to executing a successful QT study
last year, his team is actively recruiting patients in EPIC, our
pivotal Phase 3 study, at more than 50 U.S. and international
sites. They are also actively recruiting patients in our Phase 2
combination study with MST-188 and r-tPA in acute limb ischemia,
and have us poised to launch a third clinical study in heart
failure next year. Santosh accomplished much during his
tenure and leaves us with the people and infrastructure to achieve
four clinical study read-outs over the next 12 to 18 months."
About Mast Therapeutics
Mast Therapeutics, Inc. is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical
company headquartered in San
Diego, California. The Company is leveraging the MAST
(Molecular Adhesion and Sealant Technology) platform, derived from
over two decades of clinical, nonclinical and manufacturing
experience with purified and non-purified poloxamers, to develop
MST-188, its lead product candidate, for serious or
life-threatening diseases and conditions characterized by membrane
dysfunction.
The Company is enrolling subjects in EPIC, a pivotal Phase 3
study of MST-188 in sickle cell disease, and in a Phase 2, clinical
study to evaluate whether MST-188 improves the effectiveness of
recombinant tissue plasminogen activator therapy in patients with
acute limb ischemia. The Company also is planning to initiate
a Phase 2 clinical study of MST-188 in patients with acute
decompensated heart failure in the first half of 2015 and to
announce details of the study's design later this year. More
information can be found on the Company's web site at
www.masttherapeutics.com. (Twitter: @MastThera)
Mast Therapeutics™ and the corporate logo are trademarks of Mast
Therapeutics, Inc.
Forward Looking Statements
Mast Therapeutics cautions you that statements included in this
press release that are not a description of historical facts are
forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's current
expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements relating to prospects
for successful advancement of the Company's development programs
and anticipated timing of achievement of development milestones,
such as commencement and completion of clinical and nonclinical
studies and availability of study data. Among the factors
that could cause or contribute to material differences between the
Company's actual results and the expectations indicated by the
forward-looking statements are risks and uncertainties that
include, but are not limited to: the uncertainty of outcomes in
ongoing and future studies of the Company's product candidates and
the risk that its product candidates, including MST-188, may not
demonstrate adequate safety, efficacy or tolerability in one or
more such studies, including EPIC; delays in the commencement or
completion of clinical studies, including as a result of
difficulties in obtaining regulatory agency agreement on clinical
development plans or clinical study design, opening trial sites,
enrolling study subjects, manufacturing sufficient quantities of
clinical trial material, being subject to a "clinical hold," and/or
suspension or termination of a clinical study, including due to
patient safety concerns or lack of funding; the potential for
institutional review boards or the FDA or other regulatory agencies
to require additional nonclinical or clinical studies prior to
initiation of a planned clinical study of a product candidate; the
risk that, even if clinical studies are successful, the FDA or
other regulatory agencies may determine they are not sufficient to
support a new drug application; the potential that, even if
clinical studies of a product candidate in one indication are
successful, clinical studies in another indication may not be
successful; the Company's reliance on contract research
organizations (CROs), contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs),
and other third parties to assist in the conduct of important
aspects of development of its product candidates, including
clinical studies, manufacturing, and regulatory activities for its
product candidates, and that such third parties may fail to perform
as expected; the Company's ability to obtain additional funding on
a timely basis or on acceptable terms, or at all; the potential for
the Company to delay, reduce or discontinue current and/or planned
development activities, including clinical studies, partner its
product candidates at inopportune times or pursue less expensive
but higher-risk and/or lower return development paths if it is
unable to raise sufficient additional capital as needed; the risk
that, even if the Company successfully develops a product candidate
in one or more indications, it may not realize commercial success
with its products and may never generate revenue sufficient to
achieve profitability; the risk that the Company is not able to
adequately protect its intellectual property rights relating to the
MAST platform and MST-188 or AIR001 and prevent competitors from
duplicating or developing equivalent versions of its product
candidates; and other risks and uncertainties more fully described
in the Company's press releases and periodic filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company's public filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission are available at
www.sec.gov.
You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date when made. Mast
Therapeutics does not intend to revise or update any
forward-looking statement set forth in this press release to
reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof,
except as may be required by law.
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SOURCE Mast Therapeutics