LAVAL, QC, Sept. 27, 2017 /CNW/ - BELLUS Health Inc. (TSX:
BLU) (BELLUS Health or the Company), a biopharmaceutical
development company advancing novel therapeutics for conditions
with high unmet medical need, today announced that biotech
entrepreneur Dr. Clarissa Desjardins
is joining its Board of Directors.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Desjardins to our Board of
Directors as she brings a wealth of experience in building
successful biotech companies," said Dr. Francesco Bellini, Chairman of the Board of
BELLUS Health. "As an award-winning biotech entrepreneur, Dr.
Desjardins' experience will be a valuable contribution to the
BELLUS Health Board of Directors."
Dr. Desjardins is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of
Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical
company. In addition to founding Clementia in 2011, she established
and helped build two other successful biotech companies: Advanced
Bioconcept and Caprion Pharmaceuticals. She earned a Ph.D. in
Neurology and Neurosurgery from McGill's Faculty of Medicine, and
was a Medical Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the Douglas
Hospital Research Centre.
Concurrent with the appointment of Dr. Desjardins, BELLUS Health
also announced that Dr. Martin Tolar
will be stepping down from the Company's Board of Directors. "On
behalf of the Board of Directors, BELLUS Health would like to thank
Dr. Tolar for his valuable contributions and commitment to the
Company," said Dr. Francesco
Bellini.
About BELLUS Health
(www.bellushealth.com)
BELLUS Health is a biopharmaceutical development company
advancing novel therapeutics for conditions with high unmet medical
need. Its pipeline of projects includes BLU-5937 for chronic cough
and several other partnered clinical-stage drug development
programs. BLU-5937, a selective P2X3 antagonist, has the potential
to be a best-in-class therapeutic for chronic cough patients who do
not respond to current therapies. Chronic cough is a cough that
lasts more than eight weeks and is associated with significant
adverse social, psychosocial and physical effects on quality of
life. It is estimated that more than 2.7 million patients suffer
from refractory chronic cough in the
United States alone.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release, other than
statements of fact that are independently verifiable at the date
hereof, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Canadian securities legislation and regulations. Such
statements, based as they are on the current expectations of
management, inherently involve numerous important risks,
uncertainties and assumptions, known and unknown, many of which are
beyond BELLUS Health Inc.'s control. Such risks factors include but
are not limited to: the ability to expand and develop its project
pipeline, the ability to obtain financing, the impact of general
economic conditions, general conditions in the pharmaceutical
industry, changes in the regulatory environment in the
jurisdictions in which BELLUS Health Inc. does business, stock
market volatility, fluctuations in costs, changes to the
competitive environment due to consolidation, achievement of
forecasted burn rate, potential payments/outcomes in relation to
indemnity agreements and contingent value rights, achievement of
forecasted pre-clinical and clinical trial milestones and that
actual results may vary once the final and quality-controlled
verification of data and analyses has been completed. In addition,
the length of BELLUS Health Inc.'s drug candidates' development
process, their market size and commercial value, as well as the
sharing of proceeds between BELLUS Health Inc. and its potential
partners from potential future revenues, if any, are dependent upon
a number of factors. Consequently, actual future results and events
may differ materially from the anticipated results and events
expressed in the forward-looking statements. The Company believes
that expectations represented by forward-looking statements are
reasonable, yet there can be no assurance that such expectations
will prove to be correct. The reader should not place undue
reliance, if any, on any forward-looking statements included in
this news release. These forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date made, and BELLUS Health Inc. is under no obligation and
disavows any intention to update publicly or revise such statements
as a result of any new information, future event, circumstances or
otherwise, unless required by applicable legislation or regulation.
Please see BELLUS Health Inc.'s public filings with the Canadian
securities regulatory authorities, including the Annual Information
Form, for further risk factors that might affect BELLUS Health Inc.
and its business.
SOURCE BELLUS Health Inc.