MARLBOROUGH, Mass.,
June 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RXi
Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII), a clinical-stage RNAi
company developing innovative therapeutics that address significant
unmet medical needs, announced today that its Board of Directors
has appointed Dr. Jonathan Freeman
as an independent director of the Company, effectively immediately.
In addition, he will be a member of the Company's Audit and
Nominating committees.
"RXi Pharmaceuticals' self-delivering RNAi (sd-rxRNA) technology
is one of the most innovative developments in the space," said Dr.
Jonathan Freeman. "I feel privileged
to join this exciting and dynamic team and look forward to working
with the Company to advance its proprietary technology platform as
interest and momentum grows in the development of novel, cell-based
immunotherapies to treat cancer."
Dr. Jonathan Freeman serves as
the Chief Business Officer at Vedanta Biosciences, a privately-held
company developing a class of drugs that work by modulating the
human microbiome, with an initial emphasis in autoimmune and
inflammatory diseases. Previously, Dr. Freeman was Senior Vice
President, Head of Strategy Development and Portfolio Management at
Merck KGaA. During his tenure, Jonathan was responsible for
the portfolio and strategic shift that repositioned Merck as a
major player in the immuno-oncology space. Prior to that role, he
was the Head of Global Business Development and Licensing at Merck
executing more than 30 transactions and structured
financings. Prior to his roles at Merck, Jonathan served in
senior positions at Baxter and Serono, in M&A and, Corporate
and Business Development, respectively. Jonathan holds a
First Class Honours in Biochemistry and an MA from Cambridge University, UK, a PhD in cancer research
from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now CRUK), and an MBA with
a finance major from Webster
University, St. Louis. He held various post-doctoral
positions in the Swiss Institute for Cancer Research (ISREC), and
the Geneva Medical School (CMU).
"Jonathan is an established leader in the biotechnology space
with a breadth of experience across business and clinical
development who will add a valuable perspective to our Board of
Directors," said Mr. Robert
Bitterman, Chairman, RXi Pharmaceuticals' Board of
Directors. He further added that, "With the recent expansion
of the Company's pipeline in immuno-oncology, the team will greatly
benefit from his knowledge and insightful guidance."
About RXi Pharmaceuticals
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII) is a
clinical-stage company developing innovative therapeutics that
address significant unmet medical needs. Building on the
pioneering discovery of RNAi, scientists at RXi have harnessed the
naturally occurring RNAi process which has the ability to "silence"
or down-regulate the expression of a specific gene that may be
overexpressed in a disease condition. RXi developed a robust
RNAi therapeutic platform including self-delivering RNA (sd-rxRNA)
compounds that have the ability to highly selectively block the
expression of any target in the genome, thus providing
applicability to many therapeutic areas. Our current programs
include dermatology, ophthalmology and cell-based
immunotherapy. RXi's extensive patent portfolio provides for
multiple product and business development opportunities across a
broad spectrum of therapeutic areas and we actively pursue research
collaborations, partnering and out-licensing opportunities with
academia and pharmaceutical companies. Additional information
may be found on the Company's website,
www.rxipharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements
about: our ability to successfully develop RXI-109, Samcyprone™ and
our other product candidates (collectively "our product
candidates"); the future success of our clinical trials with our
product candidates; the timing for the commencement and completion
of clinical trials; our ability to enter into strategic
partnerships and the future success of these strategic
partnerships; and our ability to deploy our sd-rxRNA® technology
through partnerships, as well as the prospects of these
partnerships to provide positive returns. Forward-looking
statements about expectations and development plans of RXi's
product candidates and partnerships involve significant risks and
uncertainties, including the following: risks that we may not be
able to successfully develop and commercialize our product
candidates; risks that product development and clinical studies may
be delayed, not proceed as planned and/or be subject to significant
cost over-runs; risks related to the development and
commercialization of products by competitors; risks related to our
ability to control the timing and terms of collaborations with
third parties; and risks that other companies or organizations may
assert patent rights preventing us from developing or
commercializing our product candidates. Additional risks are
detailed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and
subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q under the caption "Risk
Factors." Readers are urged to review these risk factors and
to not act in reliance on any forward-looking statements, as actual
results may differ from those contemplated by our forward-looking
statements. RXi does not undertake to update forward-looking
statements to reflect a change in its views, events or
circumstances that occur after the date of this release.
Contact
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Tamara McGrillen
508-929-3646
tmcgrillen@rxipharma.com
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SOURCE RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation