Mast Therapeutics Announces Appointment Of Chief Medical Officer

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mast Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: MSTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that Edwin L. Parsley, D.O. has joined the Company as its Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President.

Dr. Parsley has been actively engaged with the Company since it acquired Aires Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in February 2014. He has served as Mast's interim Chief Medical Officer since September 2014 and as Chief Medical Officer of Aires since April 2011. 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.

"Ed brings significant drug development and clinical expertise, as well as over 25 years of experience treating patients with a range of acute care needs, including patients with sickle cell disease, heart failure and stroke in emergency department and inpatient settings," stated Brian M. Culley, the Company's Chief Executive Officer. "Over the seven months since we acquired Aires, Ed has made valuable contributions to our programs and we are delighted he has joined our team. We believe his experience will help us achieve our clinical and preclinical development goals over the next 12 to 18 months," Mr. Culley continued.

"I am very pleased to join Mast at this exciting time in the Company's history," said Dr. Parsley. "With its ongoing Phase 3 study of MST-188, Mast is a leader in a rare disease for which there is significant unmet need and I look forward to helping the Company achieve its goal of bringing to market the first FDA-approved drug for sickle cell disease in over 16 years, as well as advancing the Company's development programs in heart failure and arterial disease."

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 typically characterized by impaired microvascular blood flow and damaged cell membranes.

The Company is enrolling subjects in EPIC, a pivotal Phase 3 study of MST-188 in sickle cell disease, and in a Phase 2 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. In addition, the Company is developing AIR001, which it acquired in February 2014, in patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with left heart disease. 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 Dr. Parsley's potential impact on the Company's development programs, 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. 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.