BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Karuna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Karuna”), focused on targeting muscarinic cholinergic receptors for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders marked by psychosis and cognitive impairment, today announced the appointment of Steven Paul, M.D., as Chief Executive Officer effective August 15. Founder, Andrew Miller, Ph.D., is a member of the board and will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer.
“As the lead inventor of Karuna’s lead program KarXT, Andrew has been essential in both creating and executing on the vision for Karuna, and I thank him for bringing the company to this point where it is – positioned for immense growth,” said Dr. Paul. “Targeting muscarinic receptors is one of the most promising approaches to treating both the psychosis and cognitive impairment that characterize many disabling neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, where there is a profound need for more effective treatments. Having been one of the scientists involved in the original work on xanomeline at Lilly, I am excited by the progress that Karuna has made to unlock this important new class of therapeutics. I am looking forward to helping Karuna become a leader in the field and believe in the potential for KarXT to be the first antipsychotic drug with a truly novel mechanism in over 60 years. We are also excited by recent preclinical work suggesting that KarXT may be an effective non-opiate treatment for pain.”
“I worked closely with Steve at Sage Therapeutics and his experience and creativity in the field is rare,” said Robert Nelsen, Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners, and Board Member at Karuna. “KarXT’s potential to meet unmet patient need is exciting and Steve’s experience is perfectly aligned to support Karuna’s goal of delivering first-in-class drugs for treating psychosis, cognitive impairment, and pain.”
Dr. Paul, who also serves as Chairman of the Karuna Board, is an expert in central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery and development. He spent 17 years at Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), during which time he held several key leadership roles, including Executive Vice President for Science and Technology and President of the Lilly Research Laboratories, where he was responsible for the Company's overall research and development efforts for CNS drugs such as Zyprexa® and Cymbalta®. At Lilly, Dr. Paul also helped oversee the development of xanomeline where its antipsychotic and procognitive properties were initially demonstrated. Prior to Lilly, Steve spent 18 years at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and served as the Scientific Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Dr. Paul is a Co-founder and Board Member of Sage Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SAGE), a Co-founder of Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VYGR) where he served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of the Board of Directors, and a member of the Board of Directors at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY). Dr. Paul is the former Director of the Appel Alzheimer Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University of St. Louis School of Medicine.
Dr. Paul has authored or co-authored more than 550 papers and book chapters. He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). He is also an elected fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and served as ACNP President (1999). Dr. Paul is the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH) and previously served on the Science Board of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in addition to serving on many other advisory committees and receiving many awards and honors for his work in neuropsychiatry.
“We have made significant progress in the development of our lead product candidate, KarXT, and we are thrilled to have Steve at the helm as we advance into a Phase 2 trial in schizophrenia in the third quarter,” said Dr. Miller. “Steve has an extensive track record of successfully advancing the R&D activities of novel molecular entities for CNS disorders, having led efforts from discovery through commercialization for blockbuster treatments. His expertise will be immensely valuable as we drive Karuna forward.”
About Karuna Pharmaceuticals
Karuna is a clinical-stage drug
development company targeting muscarinic cholinergic receptors for the
treatment of psychosis and cognitive impairment across central nervous
system (CNS) disorders, including schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease,
as well as neuropathic pain. Karuna's lead product candidate, KarXT,
consists of xanomeline, a novel muscarinic acetylcholine receptor
agonist that has demonstrated efficacy in placebo-controlled human
trials in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, and trospium chloride,
an FDA-approved and well-established muscarinic receptor antagonist that
has been shown not to enter the central nervous system (CNS). Karuna has
demonstrated improved tolerability of KarXT vs. xanomeline alone in a
placebo-controlled human study and is currently conducting a Phase 1
trial using a proprietary co-formulation of xanomeline and trospium
chloride. A Phase 2 trial of safety and efficacy in people with
schizophrenia is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2018. Karuna,
which was founded by PureTech
Health (LSE: PRTC), has a worldwide exclusive license for xanomeline
and has a patent portfolio more broadly covering selective muscarinic
targeting enabled by the KarXT approach. For more information, visit www.karunapharma.com.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains
statements that are or may be forward-looking statements, including
statements that relate to the company's future prospects, developments
and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and
achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including,
but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties described in the risk
factors included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc.
These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the
present and future business strategies of the company and the
environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking
statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as
required by law and regulatory requirements, neither the company nor any
other party intends to update or revise these forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
