NEWARK, Calif., March 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBAY), today announced the appointment of Paul F. Truex and Robert J. Weiland to the company’s Board of Directors, effective April 1, 2016.
"I would like to welcome Paul Truex and Bob Weiland to our Board. Both have deep strategic and operational experience, having held senior leadership roles in both large-cap pharmaceutical and development stage biotechnology companies,” said Harold Van Wart, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of CymaBay. “Paul brings both business acumen and operational experience to the board. He has a track record of providing leadership at small cap biopharmaceutical companies. Bob has a wealth of experience in business and commercialization strategy, including an in-depth knowledge of the lipid lowering market from his previous work at Abbott Laboratories. As we continue to advance CymaBay through the next stage in its product development objectives, it is important we have highly qualified industry experts on our board who can provide guidance based on significant experience.”
Paul Truex is currently President and CEO of Anthera Pharmaceuticals. He was responsible for negotiating Anthera’s product licenses for both blisibimod, the company’s anti-BAFF peptibody program from Amgen, and recently, Sollpura™, an enzyme replacement product from Eli Lilly & Company. During his career, Mr. Truex has been involved with over $500 million in financings and over $1 billion in strategic in-licensing, out-licensing, and merger and acquisition transactions. Prior to founding Anthera, he was a Founder, Director, President & CEO of Peninsula Pharmaceuticals. During that time, he negotiated both of Peninsula’s product agreements with Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Doribax®, doripenem) and Takeda Chemical Industries (Teflaro®, ceftaroline). Peninsula was sold to Johnson & Johnson for $245 million and the remaining entity, Cerexa, was subsequently acquired for $480 million. Prior to Peninsula, Mr. Truex was VP of Commercial Development of Versicor Incorporated (acquired by Pfizer) where he directed early commercial efforts in infectious disease. Prior to joining Versicor, Mr. Truex worked at Eli Lilly and Company where he served in various marketing and sales roles during the launch of three different products for the primary care physician market. His business development experience includes the Lilly ICOS LLC joint venture for the development of Cialis® and two product divestitures (anidulafungin, Eraxis® and loracarbef, Lorabid®). Mr. Truex obtained a Master's of Business Administration in Marketing and Finance from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Waterloo.
Robert J. “Bob” Weiland is a seasoned commercial executive, having held senior leadership roles in both large-cap pharma and biotechnology companies. Most recently, Bob worked at Baxter International, where he served as Vice President, Strategy for Baxter International, and where he led the reconstruction of Baxter’s worldwide go-to-market strategy. Prior to that, he was Baxter International’s Vice President, Corporate Development where he was responsible for Baxter’s global business development organization and shared leadership responsibilities for Baxter’s $200 million Venture Fund. Bob initially joined Baxter as its Vice President, Strategy & Portfolio Planning for Baxter’s BioScience business. In this role he led strategy development, including specialty therapeutics business development, and strategic portfolio management for Baxter’s $5.6 billion Bioscience business, which has since been spun off as an independent biotechnology company, Baxalta. Prior to Baxter, Mr. Weiland was VP of Operations and Strategic Analytics for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America. Before Takeda, he headed the clinical, commercial and operational activities for the Surgery business unit of The Medicines Company as its Vice President and General Manager. Prior to that, he served for more than 14 years in a variety of senior domestic and international Marketing, General Management and Business Development roles at Abbott Laboratories, including the in-licensing, launch and subsequent building of TriCor, the foundation of Abbott’s lipid-lowering franchise. Mr. Weiland earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from DeSales University, Center Valley, Pennsylvania and a Master's in Business Administration in Finance and Marketing from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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. CymaBay’s product candidate 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.