CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:RARX) today announced the election of Aoife M. Brennan, M.B., B.Ch., to its board of directors.
“Dr. Brennan has an impressive track record of success in advancing the development of numerous drug candidates throughout her career, with experience in the fields of rare disease, hematology, and neurology, among other key therapeutic areas,” said Doug Treco, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ra Pharma. “We are thrilled to welcome Aoife to our board, and we look forward to her insights and expertise.”
Currently, Dr. Brennan serves as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Synlogic, Inc. (Nasdaq:SYBX), a publicly-traded company in Cambridge, MA developing innovative products based on the tools and principles of synthetic biology to genetically re-program beneficial bacteria. Dr. Brennan joined Synlogic in 2016 from Biogen, where she most recently served as Vice President and Head of the Rare Disease Innovation Unit, which included programs ranging from pre-clinical to commercial. Prior to joining Biogen, she was director of clinical development at Tolerx, a biotechnology company focusing on immunotherapy for Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Brennan holds a medical degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and has completed post-graduate training in internal medicine, endocrinology, and metabolism. Prior to joining the biotechnology industry, she was a Clinical Research Fellow in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, and a Scholar in Clinical Science at Harvard Medical School.
“Ra Pharma is an innovator in the field of complement inhibition, with promising ongoing clinical programs in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and generalized myasthenia gravis,” said Dr. Brennan. “Ra has the potential to transform treatments for a range of complement-mediated diseases, and I look forward to working with the team at this critical time in the Company’s evolution.”
About Ra Pharmaceuticals
Ra Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of next-generation therapeutics for complement-mediated diseases. The Company discovers and develops peptides and small molecules to target key components of the complement cascade. For more information, please visit: www.rapharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the potential safety, efficacy and regulatory and clinical progress of our product candidates, including without limitation RA101495 SC, and our potential to transform treatments for a range of complement-mediated diseases. All such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the risks that Ra Pharma's product candidates, including RA101495 SC, will not successfully be developed or commercialized, in the timeframe we expect or at all; the risk that topline results as of February 7, 2017 from the Company's global Phase 2 clinical program evaluating RA101495 SC for the treatment of PNH may not be indicative of final study results; as well as the other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in Ra Pharma's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as other risks detailed in Ra Pharma's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that the actual results or developments anticipated by Ra Pharma will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Ra Pharma. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Ra Pharma undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.