SAN DIEGO, April 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Celladon Corporation (Nasdaq:CLDN), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapies by applying its leadership position in the field of SERCA enzymes, today announced that it will host an Investor and Analyst Day on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. in New York City. Members of Celladon's senior management team will provide a business update and an overview of the Company's strategies to drive long-term growth and will offer perspective on the recent Breakthrough Therapy Designation granted to its lead product candidate MYDICAR – the first gene therapy based product candidate to receive this designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The event will also feature a presentation by industry key opinion leader Roger J. Hajjar, M.D., who will offer perspectives on Celladon's SERCA enzyme-based gene therapy technology and its potential therapeutic application in heart failure and vascular disease. Dr. Hajjar is the Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center, and the Arthur & Janet C. Ross Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. Dr. Hajjar's research has concentrated on validating the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase pump, SERCA2a, as a target in heart failure.
The presentations will be webcast live beginning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (5:00 a.m. Pacific Time). The live webcast and an archived presentation following the event will be available on the Investor Relations section of Celladon's corporate website at www.celladon.com.
About Celladon
Celladon is a clinical-stage biotechnology company applying its leadership position in the field of calcium dysregulation by targeting SERCA enzymes to develop novel therapies for diseases with tremendous unmet medical needs. Sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase, or SERCA, enzymes are a family of enzymes that play an integral part in the regulation of intra-cellular calcium in all human cells. Calcium dysregulation is implicated in a number of important and complex medical conditions and diseases, such as heart failure, which is a clinical syndrome characterized by poor heart function, resulting in inadequate blood flow to meet the body's metabolic needs, as well as diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. Celladon's therapeutic portfolio for diseases characterized by SERCA enzyme deficiency includes both gene therapies and small molecule compounds. MYDICAR, the Company's most advanced product candidate, uses gene therapy to target SERCA2a, which is an enzyme that becomes deficient in patients with heart failure. In addition, Celladon has identified a number of potential first-in-class compounds addressing novel targets in diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases with its small molecule platform of SERCA2b modulators.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Celladon's SERCA enzyme-based gene therapy technology and its potential therapeutic application in heart failure and vascular disease, as well as Celladon's plans to research, develop and commercialize product candidates. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Celladon's current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with the process of conducting product development activities and clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval to commercialize product candidates, Celladon's reliance on third parties, the need to raise additional funding when needed in order to conduct Celladon's business, and the degree of market acceptance of MYDICAR by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Celladon's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Celladon undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.