Vital Therapies Appoints Russell J. Cox as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member Effective January 3, 2018
December 04 2017 - 4:29PM
Vital Therapies, Inc. (Nasdaq:VTL), a biotherapeutic company
developing ELAD®, a cell-based therapy targeting the treatment of
acute forms of liver failure, today announced the appointment of
Russell J. Cox as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of its
Board of Directors, effective January 3, 2018.
Mr. Cox will succeed Terry Winters, Ph.D., who
remains CEO of Vital Therapies until January 3, 2018. On
January 3, Dr. Winters will step down from the Vital Therapies
Board and become a consultant to the Company.
“I would first like to thank Terry for his
tireless efforts in advancing ELAD to the latest stages of clinical
development,” said Faheem Hasnain, Vital Therapies Chairman of the
Board. “Vital Therapies would not be so well positioned for
the future without his commitment and passion and for that we are
deeply grateful. Looking ahead, I am delighted to welcome
Russ to Vital Therapies and look forward to working with him.
As we move forward, Russ’ experience launching several new
therapies will be critical as we prepare for potential
commercialization of ELAD in the event of positive topline results
for VTL-308 and subsequent FDA approval.”
Terry Winters said “I am delighted to welcome
Russ as our new CEO. After 14 years of running Vital
Therapies, I am thrilled to hand over the reins to someone of his
caliber. With the VTL-308 clinical trial over 80% enrolled and
approaching topline data, we need to transition from an intense
focus on clinical development to potential commercialization of
ELAD, initially in the U.S. and then worldwide. I would like to
thank the Vital Therapies management team and employees for their
hard work, commitment and passion and our board of directors for
their support in building the Company.”
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Vital
Therapies at this important stage,” said Russell J. Cox. “I
believe ELAD is a remarkable regenerative therapy with the
potential to transform the treatment of acute forms of liver
failure, bringing a lifesaving therapy to a large, underserved
disease state.”
Mr. Cox has served as the Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer of Jazz Pharmaceutical plc
(Nasdaq:JAZZ) since May 2014, with responsibility for U.S., EU and
rest-of-world commercial activities, R&D, manufacturing /
technical operations, new product planning and global molecule
leadership. Jazz Pharmaceuticals is an international
biopharmaceutical company with a market capitalization of
approximately $8 billion and annual sales of more than $1.5 billion
over the four most recently reported quarters. Prior to that,
Mr. Cox served as Jazz’s Executive Vice President and Chief
Commercial Officer from March 2012 until May 2014. Earlier,
he served in multiple senior management roles at Jazz, which he
joined in 2010. During Mr. Cox’s tenure, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
has seen its total revenue grow from under $200 million annually to
more than $1.5 billion over the four most recently reported
quarters, and was recognized by Fortune magazine in 2013 and 2017
as one of the fastest growing companies traded on a major U.S.
stock exchange.
Previously, Mr. Cox served as Senior Vice
President and Chief Commercial Officer of Ipsen Group, a
pharmaceutical company, from January 2009 to January 2010.
From 2007 until December 2008, he was Vice President of Marketing
at Tercica, Inc. prior to its acquisition by Ipsen Group. From 2003
to 2007, he served as Vice President, Marketing with Scios Inc.,
which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2003.
Previously, Mr. Cox spent 12 years with Genentech, Inc. where he
was a Product Team Leader responsible for the Growth Hormone
franchise and led numerous product launches as a Group Product
Manager. Mr. Cox has served on the board of directors of Aeglea
BioTherapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, since 2015.
Mr. Cox received a B.S. in Biomedical Science from Texas A&M
University.
About Vital Therapies, Inc.
Vital Therapies, Inc. is a biotherapeutic
company developing a cell-based therapy targeting the treatment of
acute forms of liver failure. The Company’s ELAD System is an
extracorporeal human allogeneic cellular liver therapy currently in
phase 3 clinical trials. Vital Therapies, Inc. is based in San
Diego, California. Vital Therapies® and ELAD® are trademarks
of Vital Therapies, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements
concerning or implying the success of our clinical trials and the
potential market for ELAD. Forward-looking statements are
based on current expectations and are subject to various risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
and adversely from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Accordingly, forward-looking
statements do not constitute guarantees of future performance, and
you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited
to, the success or failure of our clinical trials; whether a single
phase 3 clinical trial will be sufficient to support U.S. Food and
Drug Administration approval of a biologics license application or
whether the FDA will require us to conduct additional clinical
trials; difficulty obtaining regulatory approval in the United
States or Europe, in particular for a combination product with
open-label clinical trials; the ability to obtain adequate or any
reimbursement for our product based on its approval and the product
label; and the degree of product acceptance by the medical
community. There can be no assurance that data from any of our
clinical trials will be sufficient to support an application for
marketing in any country or that any such application will ever be
approved. These and other risks regarding our business are
described in detail in our Securities and Exchange Commission
filings, including in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended September 30, 2017. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Vital Therapies,
Inc. disclaims any obligation to update these statements except as
may be required by law.
Contact: Vital Therapies, Inc. Al
KildaniVice President, Investor Relations and Business Development
858-673-6840akildani@vitaltherapies.com
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