NEWARK, Calif., March 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBAY), today announced the appointment of Dr. Evan Stein, M.D., Ph.D., to the company’s Board of Directors effective April 1, 2016.
"Dr. Stein is a world renowned expert in the area of lipid metabolism with a particular focus during his distinguished career on the development of therapies to treat familial hypercholesterolemia," said Harold Van Wart, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of CymaBay. "Dr. Stein brings over 40 years of expertise in the pharmaceutical industry. He has been involved in the clinical development of multiple therapies that have become standard-of-care for the treatment of various lipid disorders. In addition, he has founded and grown several businesses that have supported and accelerated drug development across the industry. As we continue to expand the development of MBX-8025 to treat patients with lipid and liver diseases of high unmet medical need, we expect Dr. Stein’s knowledge, experience and network to be a valuable resource to CymaBay.”
Dr. Stein added, “I am very excited about joining the Board of Directors of CymaBay Therapeutics. I am particularly intrigued by MBX-8025, the company’s potent and selective PPAR-δ agonist, which represents a potential new approach to treating familial hypercholesterolemia and other lipid disorders.”
Dr. Stein received his M.D. and Ph.D., from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He started the first lipid clinic in South Africa in 1972 and described the high gene frequency of familial hypercholesterolemia. After completing his specialist training in Medical Biochemistry at McMaster University Medical Center, Canada he was on the full-time faculty at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio for 11 years as tenured Professor of Pathology and Laboratory and remained on the faculty as Voluntary Professor until August of 2015. In 1988, he founded Medical Research Laboratories International, which was acquired in 2002 by Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD), where Dr. Stein continued serving in a senior position until 2015. He founded the Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Research Center in 1988, which in 2008 merged into Medpace, Inc., a global clinical research organization, where he continues to serve as Director Emeritus. Dr. Stein was also a founding partner and formally Chief Scientific Officer of Medpace, Inc. which was acquired by the private equity firm, CCMP Capital Advisors, in 2011. Dr. Stein continued to serve on the Board of Directors of Medpace, Inc. until December 2012. From 2006-2015, he was a board member of Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. which became a public company in 2014. He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Catabasis Pharmaceuticals and Gemphire Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Stein has had a number of appointments to the National Institutes of Health since 1986, including the General Clinical Research Centers Advisory Committee, NCEP Lipid Standardization Committee, Data and Safety Advisory Board of the NHLBI Program on Genetics in Hypertension from 1999-2003. From 2006-2010 he served on the FDA Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Toxicology Advisory Panel. He has a number of NIH grants and served as Principal Investigator of central laboratory for the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial.
Dr. Stein’s clinical research focuses on diagnosis and treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia. He was also one of the earliest investigators to study statins, apheresis, ezetimibe, MTP inhibitors, squalene synthase inhibitors and most recently PCSK9 inhibitors. Dr. Stein has authored or co-authored more than 280 publications in the area of lipid metabolism and laboratory medicine.
About CymaBay
CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (CBAY) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies to treat metabolic diseases with high unmet medical need, including serious rare and orphan disorders. MBX-8025 is a potent, selective, orally active PPARδ agonist. A Phase 2 study of MBX-8025 in patients with mixed dyslipidemia established that it has an anti-atherogenic lipid profile. CymaBay has completed a pilot Phase 2 study of MBX-8025 in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and has an ongoing Phase 2 study in patients with primary biliary cholangitis. Arhalofenate, CymaBay’s other product candidate, is a potential Urate-Lowering Anti-Flare Therapy that has completed five Phase 2 studies in gout patients. Arhalofenate has been found to reduce painful flares in joints while at the same time promoting excretion of uric acid by the kidney. This dual action addresses both the signs and symptoms of gout while managing the underlying pathophysiology of hyperuricemia.
For additional information about CymaBay visit www.cymabay.com.