RICHMOND, British Columbia & GUILFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BIOASIS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (TSX.V:BTI; OTCQB:BIOAF) (“Bioasis” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical company developing its xB3 TM proprietary platform technology for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced the appointments of John E. Curran, CPA and David M. Wurzer, CPA to the Bioasis Board of Directors, filling two of the current vacancies on the board. Mr. Curran recently retired from Deloitte & Touche LLP where he served as a partner in Hartford, Conn., United States. Mr. Wurzer is currently an executive vice president and chief investment officer at Connecticut Innovations in Rocky Hill, Conn., United States.
Director Maha Radhakrishnan, M.D. has resigned due to personal reasons, effective immediately.
“We are very happy to welcome Dave and John to our board. They bring significant financial, board and audit and compensation committee expertise and their acceptance of these appointments supports the Company’s strategic business plans. Bioasis will benefit from their business acumen and counsel as the management team works to advance the Company with guidance from the board,” said Dr. Deborah Rathjen, chair of the board. “We would also like to thank Dr. Maha Radhakrishnan for her service and contributions to the board and wish her the very best.”
In connection with the changes to the board, the composition of the board committees has been revised as follows:
- Audit Committee (fully comprised of independent directors): Mr. John E. Curran, CPA (chair), Dr. Deborah Rathjen and Mr. David M. Wurzer, CPA
- Compensation Committee (fully comprised of independent directors): Dr. Nancy Stagliano, Dr. Deborah Rathjen and Mr. David M. Wurzer, CPA
“John and Dave have uncompromised standards for corporate governance and have displayed brilliant financial, operational and business leadership skills and exceptional values throughout their careers,” said Mark Day, Ph.D., director and president and chief executive officer. “We are thrilled to have them on our board and look forward to working with them.”
John Curran is a former partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Hartford, Conn., United States. He recently retired after spending 41 years with Deloitte. Mr. Curran has substantial experience advising and supporting business strategic development and implementation, including growth strategies (organic and merger & acquisition), marketplace strategies, capital structuring (equity and debt structuring) as well as managing business performance, profitability and creating shareholder value. Mr. Curran has served as a lead advisor and provided oversight on more than 50 due diligence projects. He has advised and supported extensive capital structuring and financing transactions, including initial and ongoing public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities. Mr. Curran has broad U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) experience, including registration and financial statement filings. He has also advised on and supported issue resolution including, responding to SEC comment letters, developing accounting and financial disclosures and compliance with SEC rules and regulations.
Dave Wurzer joined Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state of Connecticut’s “venture capital arm,” in 2009 where he currently serves as executive vice president and chief investment officer. Mr. Wurzer is responsible for managing the investment function at CI, which includes planning and performance measurement for the $125 million venture capital portfolio, comprised of investments in over 150 Connecticut technology companies. Throughout his 38-year career, Mr. Wurzer has accumulated noteworthy experience in identifying, evaluating and assisting early-stage companies across a broad range of industries with funding through equity and equity-related (venture) investments to help spur growth. Mr. Wurzer has made meaningful contributions reviewing business strategies and raising capital for the companies and has also been involved in negotiating strategic and business development alliances with several pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
Bioasis also advises investors that an updated version of its corporate presentation containing this information is available for review on its website at www.bioasis.us/investors.
MORE ABOUT THE DIRECTORS
John E. Curran, CPA
John E. Curran is a former partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”), most recently serving as office managing partner, the equivalent of business unit chief executive officer, of Deloitte’s Hartford, Conn. practice and as a lead client service partner responsible for enterprise-wide solutions across all Deloitte’s service lines (tax, audit, risk and consulting/technology). Mr. Curran became a partner in 1987 and retired in June 2018.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Curran has served some of the firm’s largest insurance clients as well as health care entities. He has been responsible for the client relationship, assembling and oversight of multifunctional teams, quality and risk and financial performance. Mr. Curran’s expertise includes mergers & acquisitions, financial reporting, corporate governance, SEC matters, regulatory, strategic business planning and initial public offerings (IPOs). Mr. Curran has also led numerous due diligence projects in the insurance industry for large private equity entities.
Mr. Curran currently serves on the board of directors for the Richard M. Keane Foundation. He has previously served on the board of The Mark Twain House, The Greater Hartford Arts Council, The Boys & Girls Club of Hartford and The Hartford Economic Insurance Cluster.
Mr. Curran is a Certified Public Accountant and earned his bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., United States.
David M. Wurzer, CPA
David M. Wurzer currently serves as executive vice president and chief investment officer at Connecticut Innovations (CI) in Rocky Hill, Conn. Mr. Wurzer is responsible for managing the investment function at CI, which includes staffing, portfolio and risk management, outreach, budget planning and performance measurement. He also is responsible for oversight of the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund (CBIF) and the Regenerative Medicine Research Fund (RMRF).
When Mr. Wurzer joined CI in 2009 as senior managing director of investments, he had extensive senior-level experience in operations and finance, including more than 10 years as executive vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer of CuraGen Corporation, a former CI portfolio company. Mr. Wurzer guided the biotech company through its initial public offering and helped raise more than $700 million. Mr. Wurzer was also involved in negotiating strategic and business development alliances with several pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including Roche, Bayer and Amgen-Freemont (Abgenix). Mr. Wurzer helped to grow CuraGen and its technology development subsidiary into an operation with more than 500 employees and a market capitalization as high as $5.3 billion.
Mr. Wurzer began his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand in Hartford, Conn. (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers), where he held various accounting and managerial positions.
Mr. Wurzer currently serves on the board of directors for several private and public companies, including Standard Diversified Opportunities, Inc. (NASDAQ:SDOI), Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SMMT; LON:SUMM), ReNetX Therapeutics (f/k/a Axerion Therapeutics), Natural Polymer Devices, Thetis Pharmaceuticals. His various responsibilities on these boards include lead director, audit committee chair, compensation committee chair, nominating member and audit and compensation committee member.
Mr. Wurzer previously served on the board of directors for DUSA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:DUSA), Response Genetics (NASDAQ:RGDX), 454 Life Sciences Corporation, CyVek, EmmeE2MS, LegiTime, My Gene Counsel, NovaTract Surgical, Sematifi, SmartPay Solutions and ZetrOZ. His various responsibilities on those boards included audit committee chair, compensation committee chair and audit and compensation committee member.
Mr. Wurzer is a board financial expert for SEC purposes and Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Wurzer earned his bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., United States.
About Bioasis
Bioasis Technologies, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing the xB3 TM platform, a proprietary technology for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the treatment of CNS disorders in areas of high unmet medical need, including brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. The delivery of therapeutics across the BBB represents the final frontier in treating neurological disorders. The in-house development programs at Bioasis are designed to develop symptomatic and disease-modifying treatments for brain-related diseases and disorders. The company maintains headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada with offices in Guilford, Conn., United States. Bioasis trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “BTI” and on the OTCQB under the symbol “BIOAF.” For more information about the company, please visit www.bioasis.us.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Bioasis Technologies Inc.
Mark
Day, Ph.D., Director and President & Chief Executive Officer
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
