FREMONT, Calif., Oct. 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zosano Pharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ZSAN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that Steven Lo, veteran biotechnology and pharmaceutical executive, will become president and chief executive officer of Zosano effective October 21, 2019. He will also serve on the company’s board of directors. Upon retiring after 48 years in the healthcare industry, John Walker will continue as the chairman of the company’s board of directors.
“We are extremely pleased that Steve will be taking over the leadership of the company,” said John Walker, chairman of Zosano. “His 25 years of experience in both large and small pharma organizations has given him the experience and perspective to lead the company through the continued development and, if approved by the FDA, the commercialization of Qtrypta™ and the further development of our intracutaneous delivery platform. From his early career at AstraZeneca through his 13 years of increasing responsibilities at Genentech and the successful launch of two biotech drugs at Corcept and Puma, he has demonstrated his leadership and ability to deliver results. As I transition back to my duties as chairman, I look forward to supporting him as he leads Zosano to success in the market.”
Steven Lo added, “I am excited to join Zosano as we look to commercialize our first potential product, Qtrypta. I look forward to guiding the organization through the regulatory review process, commercial preparation and launch, as well as strategic partnering, where my experience will be most helpful. I’d like to thank John for his leadership in driving Zosano to this point and look forward to his continued counsel as chairman of the board.”
Steven Lo was most recently the chief commercial officer at Puma Biotechnology where he built the commercial operations infrastructure to launch the company’s first product, NERLYNX®, in the United States and executed global licensing deals. Previously, he was senior vice president and chief commercial officer at Corcept Therapeutics. At Corcept, Mr. Lo formed the commercial organization to launch the company’s first product, Korlym®, an endocrine specialty medication for a rare orphan disease (Cushing’s syndrome) and also was responsible for the corporate strategy and development of the company’s oncology franchise. Earlier in his career, he spent 13 years at Genentech in increasingly responsible roles in sales and marketing, ultimately serving as franchise head, Endocrinology. He started his career in the pharmaceutical industry at AstraZeneca. Mr. Lo holds a master’s in health administration from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in microbiology from the University of California, Davis.
About Zosano Pharma
Zosano Pharma Corporation is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products where rapid administration of established molecules with established safety and efficacy profiles may provide an increased benefit to patients, for markets where patients remain underserved by existing therapies. The company’s Adhesive Dermally-Applied Microarray (ADAM) technology consists of titanium microneedles coated with drug that is designed to enable rapid systemic administration of therapeutics to patients. Zosano’s lead product candidate is Qtrypta™ (M207), which is an investigational, proprietary formulation of zolmitriptan delivered via ADAM technology, currently in development for the acute treatment of migraine. In February 2017, the company announced positive and statistically significant results from the ZOTRIP pivotal study and in February 2019, the company announced the completion of the final milestone in its long-term safety study. The company is preparing to submit a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration for Qtrypta (M207). Learn more at www.zosanopharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Mr. Lo’s employment commencement date and role as president and chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors, Mr. Walker’s role as chairman, the expected New Drug Application for Qtrypta, commercial preparation and launch, strategic partnering and other future events and expectations. Readers are urged to consider statements that include the words "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "might," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," "continues," "forecast," "designed," "goal," "unaudited," "approximately" or the negative of those words or other comparable words to be uncertain and forward-looking. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, and actual outcomes may differ materially. These include risks and uncertainties, without limitation, associated with the process of discovering, developing and commercializing products that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, risks inherent in the effort to build a business around such products and other risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the company's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Although Zosano believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot in any way guarantee that the future results, level of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. All forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to Zosano and Zosano assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
Zosano Contact:
Greg Kitchener
Chief Financial Officer
510-745-1200
PR Contacts:
Sylvia Wheeler or Alexandra Santos
swheeler@wheelhouselsa.com or asantos@wheelhouselsa.com