- Sandesh (Sandy) Mahatme of Sarepta Therapeutics Appointed New Board Member
- Flexion CEO Michael Clayman Offers Thanks to Departing Board Member Dr. Rafaéle Tordjman
BURLINGTON, Mass., July 24, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Flexion Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:FLXN) announced today changes to the composition of its Board of Directors. Sandesh (Sandy) Mahatme has been appointed to the Board of Directors, effective July 22, 2014. He has also been appointed as Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Board. Mr. Mahatme currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Sarepta Therapeutics. In addition, Flexion Board member Rafaéle Tordjman, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, is stepping down from the Board.
"Sandy, a seasoned biopharmaceutical finance and corporate development professional, is a welcome addition to the Flexion Board of Directors during our first year as a publicly traded company," said Michael Clayman, M.D., President and CEO. "We look forward to Sandy making important contributions as we continue to advance our pipeline of drug candidates and move closer to a commercial drug launch.
"I'd also like to offer my sincere thanks to Rafaéle for her years of service and many contributions to the Flexion Therapeutics organization," added Dr. Clayman. "She has been a highly valued Board member since 2009, and we will miss her being part of Flexion."
Mr. Mahatme became Sarepta's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in November 2012. He is currently responsible for the finance, investor relations, facilities, IT and corporate communications functions at Sarepta, which is a rapidly growing, late-stage biotechnology company with a focus on neuromuscular and infectious disease therapeutic areas. From January 2006 to November 2012, Mr. Mahatme worked at Celgene Corporation, where he served in various roles, including Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Senior Vice President of Finance, Corporate Treasurer and Head of Tax. While at Celgene, Mr. Mahatme built the treasury and tax functions before establishing the Corporate Development Department, and focused on strategic, targeted initiatives including commercial development in emerging markets, acquisitions and licensing and global manufacturing expansion. Prior to working at Celgene, Mr. Mahatme worked for Pfizer Inc. for over eight years in senior roles in Business Development and Corporate Tax. Mr. Mahatme started his career at Ernst & Young LLP where he advised multinational corporations on a broad range of transactions. Mr. Mahatme holds Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees from Cornell Law School and NYU School of Law and is a member of the New York State Bar Association.
"I'm honored to join the Flexion Therapeutics Board of Directors at this exciting time for the company, following its IPO earlier this year and as its lead clinical program FX006 advances towards late-stage trials and potential product launch," said Mr. Mahatme.
About Flexion Therapeutics
Flexion is a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel pain therapies. The company is currently advancing a portfolio of injectable drug candidates that have the potential to provide better and more persistent analgesia compared with existing therapy. The company's lead program, FX006, is an intra-articular sustained release steroid in development for patients with moderate to severe OA pain. The company also has two additional product candidates, FX007, a locally administered TrkA receptor antagonist for post-operative pain, and FX005, an intra-articular, sustained-release p38 MAP kinase inhibitor for end-stage OA patients.