Exicure Announces Appointments of Elizabeth Garofalo, M.D., and Andrew Sassine to Its Board of Directors
March 09 2021 - 8:45AM
Business Wire
Exicure, Inc. (NASDAQ: XCUR), a pioneer in gene regulatory and
immunotherapeutic drugs utilizing spherical nucleic acid (SNA™)
technology, today announced the appointments of Elizabeth (Betsy)
Garofalo, M.D. and Mr. Andrew Sassine to its Board of
Directors.
“We are pleased to welcome Betsy and Andrew to our Board at a
critical time for Exicure, having made significant progress with
the development of cavrotolimod in oncology and XCUR-FXN in
Friedreich’s ataxia. Betsy’s distinguished career and significant
clinical development experience and Andrew’s financial and
institutional investor experience will provide important
perspective to our Board,” said Timothy P. Walbert, Exicure’s
Chairman of the Board of Directors. “We look forward to the
collective experience they will bring as Exicure advances its
pipeline of innovative investigational therapies and we look to
deliver on the promise of Exicure’s proprietary Spherical Nucleic
Acid, or SNA technology.”
Dr. Garofalo is a biopharma executive with more than 25 years of
experience in global clinical development and regulatory affairs.
Since 2016, Dr. Garofalo has served as the principal for EAG Pharma
Consulting LLC. Prior to then, she served in numerous leadership
roles including as Senior Vice President and Global Head of
Clinical Development for Novartis and as a member of its Global
Development Leadership Team, Chair of the Novartis Portfolio
Stewardship Board, Co-Head of the Novartis Neuroscience Franchise,
Head of the Neuroscience Therapy Area at Astellas, Ann Arbor Site
Head of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Pfizer and Ann Arbor Site
Head of Neuroscience at Pfizer.
Dr. Garofalo currently serves on the Board of Acadia
Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Institute for Advanced Clinical Trials in
Children and is the Chair of the Business Advisory Board for the
Epilepsy Foundation of America. She has an M.D. from the Indiana
University School of Medicine and completed fellowships in
pediatric neurology and epilepsy at the University of Michigan
Medical School.
"I am excited to be joining the Board of Exicure,” said Dr.
Garofalo. “The Exicure SNA platform technology offers great promise
of producing new therapeutics directed towards neurological
diseases with high unmet medical need and high morbidity.”
Andrew Sassine currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and
member of the board of directors of Arcturus Therapeutics. He also
serves on the board of directors of ICAD, Inc., a cancer detection
software company utilizing artificial intelligence. He previously
was a fund manager at Fidelity Investments where he managed the
Fidelity Small Cap Stock Fund and the Fidelity International Small
Cap Opportunities Fund. He has an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at
the University of Pennsylvania.
“I am excited to join the Exicure team and its distinguished
Board of Directors,” said Andrew Sassine. “I believe their
technology has the ability to change the face of medicine by
expanding and facilitating the delivery of DNA and RNA medicines to
new and more challenging diseases.”
Exicure also announced today that David Walt, Ph.D., has
announced his intention not to stand for re-election at the
Company’s upcoming 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. “We would
like to thank David for his incredible energy and support as we
have formed and shaped the trajectory of Exicure," said David
Giljohann, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Exicure.
About Exicure
Exicure, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company
developing therapeutics for neurology, immuno-oncology,
inflammatory diseases and other genetic disorders based on our
proprietary Spherical Nucleic Acid, or SNA technology. Exicure
believes that its proprietary SNA architecture has distinct
chemical and biological properties that may provide advantages over
other nucleic acid therapeutics and may have therapeutic potential
to target diseases not typically addressed with other nucleic acid
therapeutics. Exicure is in preclinical development of XCUR-FXN an
SNA–based therapeutic candidate, for the treatment of Friedreich’s
ataxia (FA). Exicure's therapeutic candidate cavrotolimod is in a
Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors.
Exicure is based in Chicago, IL and in Cambridge, MA.
www.exicuretx.com
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. All statements in this press release other than statements of
historical fact could be deemed forward looking including, but not
limited to, statements regarding the company’s business strategy
and its plans for the development of product candidates based on
its SNA technology. Forward-looking statements are based on
management’s current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to
risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future
performance. Actual results could differ materially from those
contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various
factors, including, without limitation: the risks that the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic may disrupt the company’s business and/or the
global healthcare system more severely than it has to date or more
severely than anticipated, which may have the effect of impacting
or delaying the company’s ongoing Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of
cavrotolimod; unexpected costs, charges or expenses that reduce the
company’s capital resources; the company’s preclinical or clinical
programs do not advance or result in approved products on a timely
or cost effective basis or at all; the results of early clinical
trials are not always being predictive of future results; the cost,
timing and results of clinical trials; that many drug candidates do
not become approved drugs on a timely or cost effective basis or at
all; the ability to enroll patients in clinical trials; possible
safety and efficacy concerns; regulatory developments; and the
ability of the company to protect its intellectual property rights.
For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other
important factors, any of which could cause the company’s actual
results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, see the section titled “Risk Factors” in the company’s
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30,
2020, as updated by the company’s subsequent filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press
release is as of the date of the release, and the company
undertakes no duty to update this information, except as required
by law.
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Media Contact: MacDougall Karen Sharma 781-235-3060
ksharma@macbiocom.com
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