CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DURECT
Corporation (Nasdaq: DRRX) today announced the expansion of its
board of directors with the appointment of Peter García, a
biopharmaceutical industry veteran with over 25 years of financial
leadership experience.
"We are delighted to welcome Peter García to our board of
directors as we continue to advance our AHFIRM Phase 2b trial evaluating larsucosterol, our lead
epigenetic regulator, in alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH),"
stated James E. Brown, D.V.M., President and Chief Executive
Officer of DURECT. "Pete's extensive industry experience will
be particularly valuable in the continued transformation of DURECT
as we look forward to a potentially successful AHFIRM trial."
Mr. García added, "I look forward to working with the
DURECT board of directors and management team to provide additional
perspective at this pivotal time for the company as it advances its
pipeline and prepares for a potential transition from development
stage to commercial stage over the next few years."
Peter García has worked as a Chief Financial Officer in the
life sciences industry for over 25 years and raised over
$2 billion in capital during that
period. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of ALX
Oncology Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ALXO) since joining them in
January 2020 and led their initial
public offering in July 2020 and
follow on offering in December 2020.
Prior to ALX Oncology, he served as Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer from 2013 until 2019 at PDL BioPharma, Inc., an
acquirer of royalties and pharmaceutical assets. Before his time at
PDL, Mr. García served as Chief Financial Officer at BioTime, Inc.,
a clinical-stage biotechnology company now known as Lineage Cell
Therapeutics. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of
Marina Biotech, Nanosys, Nuvelo, Novacept, IntraBiotics
Pharmaceuticals and Dendreon, and began his life science career at
Amgen where he served in a number of financial roles of increasing
responsibility. Mr. García holds an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles and a B.A. in
Economics and Sociology from Stanford
University.
About DURECT Corporation
DURECT is a
biopharmaceutical company committed to transforming the treatment
of acute organ injury and chronic liver diseases by advancing novel
and potentially lifesaving therapies based on its endogenous
epigenetic regulator program. Larsucosterol (also known as
DUR-928), DURECT's lead drug candidate, binds to and inhibits the
activity of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), epigenetic enzymes
which are elevated and associated with hypermethylation found in
alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH) patients. Larsucosterol is in
clinical development for the potential treatment of AH, for which
FDA has granted a Fast Track Designation; non-alcoholic
steatohepatitis (NASH) is also being explored. In addition,
POSIMIR® (bupivacaine solution) for infiltration use, a non-opioid
analgesic utilizing the innovative SABER® platform technology, is
FDA-approved. Full prescribing information about POSIMIR, including
the Boxed Warning, can be found at www.posimir.com. For
more information about DURECT, please
visit www.durect.com and follow us on
Twitter https://twitter.com/DURECTCorp.
DURECT Forward-Looking Statement
This press release
contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks
and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, without
limitation, statements about the potential for larsucosterol (also
known as DUR-928) to treat patients with AH, NASH, multiple acute
organ injury, chronic liver diseases and other diseases, ongoing
clinical trials of larsucosterol, the potential benefits of Fast
Track Designation, and the commercial potential of POSIMIR. Actual
results or events could differ materially from the plans,
intentions, expectations and projections disclosed in the
forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause
actual results or events to differ materially, including, but not
limited to, the risk that the clinical trial of larsucosterol in AH
takes longer to conduct than anticipated due to COVID-19 or other
factors, the risk that clinical trials of larsucosterol, including
AHFIRM, do not confirm the results from earlier clinical or
pre-clinical trials, or do not demonstrate the safety or efficacy
or the lifesaving potential of larsucosterol in a statistically
significant manner, the risk that Fast Track Designation for
larsucosterol in AH may not lead to faster FDA review or an
approval, risks that we or a third-party licensee may not
commercialize POSIMIR successfully, if at all, and risks related to
our ability to obtain capital to fund operations and expenses, and
other risks described in the "Risk Factors" section of DURECT's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on November
3, 2021, and in other filings filed from time to time with
the SEC. DURECT does not assume any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
NOTE: POSIMIR® and SABER® are trademarks of DURECT
Corporation. Other referenced trademarks belong to their
respective owners. Larsucosterol (DUR-928) is an
investigational drug candidate under development and has not been
approved for commercialization by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration or other health authorities for any indication.
Full prescribing information for POSIMIR, including its Boxed
Warning, can be found at www.posimir.com.
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/durect-corporation-expands-board-of-directors-with-appointment-of-biopharmaceutical-industry-finance-veteran-peter-garcia-301444173.html
SOURCE DURECT Corporation