SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDTX), a biotechnology company developing novel anti-infectives including immunotherapies, today announced the appointments of James (Jamie) Levine as chief financial officer and Jessica Oien, J.D., as general counsel and secretary.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Jamie and Jessica to our executive management team. They both have deep, highly relevant experience and distinguished leadership track records in the biotech industry, all of which will be extremely valuable to Cidara as we advance the rezafungin Phase 3 program and expand our Cloudbreak immunotherapy platform,” said Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Cidara. “I am confident that Jamie’s diverse background in finance and experience on Wall Street, as well as Jessica’s breadth of legal experience in clinical development through to commercialization, will be tremendous assets to our company.”
Prior to joining Cidara, Levine held senior executive and Board roles at two biotechnology companies, Sapphire Energy and Verenium Corporation, both of which were focused on the development, manufacture and sale of products for the human and animal nutrition markets. Previously, Levine was a managing director in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs & Co. in both New York and London, where he spent 11 years focused on serving clients in the healthcare and energy industries.
Levine holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Brandeis University.
Oien formerly served as vice president, compliance at Otonomy, Inc., where she developed and oversaw the commercial compliance program and was the legal lead for the commercial business. She served in similar roles at Pernix Therapeutics, Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Verus Pharmaceuticals. She provided legal consulting services for a robust clientele of early-stage biotech companies including legal support for numerous collaborations, and research and development programs. Oien also served as senior director, legal affairs at Elan Corporation. She began her legal career as outside corporate counsel at national law firms including tenures at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison and Millbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.
Oien holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from North Dakota State University.
About Cidara Therapeutics
Cidara is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new anti-infectives that have the potential to transform the standard of care and save or improve patients’ lives. The company is currently advancing its novel echinocandin antifungal, rezafungin acetate, in a Phase 3 clinical trial in the treatment of candidemia and invasive candidiasis, and plans to initiate a second Phase 3 trial in the prophylaxis of invasive fungal infections in patients undergoing blood and marrow transplantation. Rezafungin has improved pharmacokinetics compared to existing echinocandins and the potential for expanded utility across patient settings. It is the only once-weekly product candidate in development for the treatment and prevention of life-threatening invasive fungal infections. Cidara also is leveraging its novel Cloudbreak™ platform to develop antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of serious viral and Gram-negative bacterial infections. Cloudbreak is the first immunotherapy discovery platform designed specifically to create compounds that directly kill pathogens and also direct a patient’s immune cells to attack and eliminate bacterial, fungal or viral pathogens. Cidara is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, please visit www.cidara.com.
