NEWARK, Calif., March 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Protagonist
Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PTGX) today announced the appointment of
Asif Ali as Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In this role, Asif's
responsibilities will extend across all finance-related functions
within the Company, including financial planning and analysis,
taxation, accounting and financial reporting, finance operations,
investor relations, and strategic partnership-related
financings.
"I am extremely pleased to welcome Asif to Protagonist as our
new CFO," said Dinesh V. Patel,
Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Protagonist. "His
track record of success includes leadership and execution of the
complex financial aspects of product commercialization, strategic
partnerships, and long-term business strategy. His deep industry
expertise, combined with his leadership skill and strength of
character, make Asif an excellent addition to our executive team. I
look forward to working closely with him in fulfilling and further
expanding the promise of our clinical product pipeline in support
of patients."
Asif will join Protagonist in mid-April. He comes to Protagonist
from Theravance Biopharma, where he served as Chief Accounting
Officer. At Theravance, Asif's scope of oversight and contributions
included equity and asset-backed financings, strategic
collaborations, finance operations, and international tax planning.
Asif's prior work as Vice President and Controller at Depomed, Inc.
included support of five product launches, four successful product
acquisitions, and a significant financing from the sale of future
royalties.
"Protagonist is poised for substantial growth as it continues to
advance its robust pipeline of drug candidates," Asif stated. "As
someone who has had the opportunity to serve in leadership
positions with a number of strong companies, I am especially
excited about Protagonist's future potential to deliver value to
patients and other stakeholders. I'm thrilled to join this seasoned
executive team on the journey ahead."
About Protagonist
Protagonist Therapeutics is a
biopharmaceutical company with multiple peptide-based new chemical
entities in different stages of clinical development, all derived
from the Company's proprietary technology platform.
Protagonist's pipeline includes rusfertide, an investigational,
injectable hepcidin mimetic currently in the REVIVE Phase 2
proof-of-concept clinical trial for polycythemia vera (PV), the
PACIFIC Phase 2 study in PV subjects with high hematocrit levels,
and a recently completed Phase 2a study for hereditary
hemochromatosis. The Company has opened sites and initiated patient
screening for VERIFY, a single, global Phase 3 randomized,
placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of a
once weekly, subcutaneously self-administered dose of
rusfertide.
The Company is also evaluating an orally delivered,
gut-restricted alpha-4-beta-7 integrin specific antagonist peptide
(PN-943), currently in the IDEAL Phase 2 study in adults with
moderate to severe active ulcerative colitis. The Company is
targeting ulcerative colitis as the initial indication. Data
readout from the Phase 2 study is expected in the second quarter of
2022.
Protagonist has granted Janssen an exclusive worldwide license
to research, develop and commercialize oral IL-23 receptor
antagonists based on the Company's intellectual property. Current
development efforts are centered on PN-235, discovered by
Protagonist and further developed in collaboration with Janssen.
FRONTIER 1, a Phase 2b multicenter,
randomized, placebo controlled, dose-ranging study to evaluate the
safety and efficacy of PN-235 for the treatment of
moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, commenced in early 2022.
Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements for
purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include
statements regarding our intentions or current expectations
concerning, among other things, our product pipeline, management
team and growth. In some cases, you can identify these
statements by forward-looking words such as "anticipate,"
"believe," "may," "will," "expect," or the negative or plural of
these words or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ
materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to,
our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates,
our ability to earn milestone payments under our collaboration
agreements, the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on our
discovery and development efforts, our ability to use and expand
our programs to build a pipeline of product candidates, our ability
to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product
candidates, our ability to operate in a competitive industry and
compete successfully against competitors that have greater
resources than we do, and our ability to obtain and adequately
protect intellectual property rights for our product
candidates. Additional information concerning these and other
risk factors affecting our business can be found in our periodic
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including
under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in our most recently
filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of
operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development
of the industry in which we operate, may differ materially from the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
Any forward-looking statements that we make in this press release
speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no
obligation to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the
date of this press release.
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SOURCE Protagonist Therapeutics Inc.