Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Appoints John W. Smither as Chief Financial Officer

Richard Peterson Departing for Personal Reasons


WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNNA) today announced the appointment of John W. Smither as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Smither will succeed Richard Peterson, who has resigned for personal reasons, effective Mar. 29, 2018.

“We are pleased to welcome John back to Sienna as our Chief Financial Officer,” said Frederick C. Beddingfield III, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Sienna. “John is a well-regarded and highly experienced public-company finance executive, who served previously as Sienna’s CFO from January 2016 to March 2017. Under his financial leadership during that time, Sienna completed two private-company financing rounds, raising approximately $86 million, and made initial preparations for becoming a public company. I have known and worked with John a long time and have every confidence that his contributions will help lead Sienna to continued success and build value for our shareholders.”

Dr. Beddingfield continued, “On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire Sienna team, I want to thank Ric for his outstanding service to the Company and our shareholders. His experience and dedication were instrumental to our successful initial public offering and transition to being a public company. Ric’s work ethic and wealth of experience will be missed. We wish him all the very best.”

Mr. Smither served as Sienna’s CFO from January 2016 to March 2017, and subsequently has served as an independent consultant in the biopharmaceutical industry. Previously, he served as CFO of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. from November 2007 until it was acquired by Allergan in October 2015 for $2.1 billion. As CFO of Kythera, Mr. Smither oversaw multiple private and public financing rounds, including Kythera’s initial public offering and subsequent follow-on offerings.

From 1998 to 2007, Mr. Smither held various positions at Amgen. From 2001 to 2004, he served as vice president of finance and administration for Amgen’s European Division, where he was responsible for financial operations in 28 European countries. Prior to that, Mr. Smither served as head of internal audit, and following his time in Europe was executive director of corporate accounting. Prior to joining Amgen, he served as audit partner at Ernst & Young LLP, a public accounting firm, and following his time at Ernst & Young served as CFO of several early stage companies. Mr. Smither has served on the board of directors of Achaogen, Inc. since December 2013, where he currently serves as the audit committee chair and a member of the compensation committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University, Los Angeles. Mr. Smither is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the California Society of Certified Public Accountants and Financial Executives International.

About Sienna Biopharmaceuticals

Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovations in biotechnology to the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class, targeted, topical products in medical dermatology and aesthetics. The Company’s objective is to develop an innovative, diversified, multi-asset pipeline of topical therapies that enhance the health, appearance and quality of life of dermatology and aesthetics patients. Sienna is led by a management team with extensive experience in product development and commercialization at several leading dermatology, aesthetics and biotechnology companies.

For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.SiennaBio.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the statements by Sienna’s Chief Executive Officer and other statements regarding the appointment of John W. Smither as CFO. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause Sienna’s clinical development programs, future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, including the clinical trial enrollment process, the regulatory approval processes, the timing of regulatory filings, the challenges associated with manufacturing drug products, Sienna’s ability to successfully protect and defend its intellectual property, and other matters that could affect the sufficiency of existing cash to fund operations and the availability or commercial potential of Sienna’s product candidates. Sienna undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the Company in general, see Sienna’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent current and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact (Investors and Media):

Sean Andrews
Senior Director, Investor Relations
sandrews@siennabio.com
818-629-2244