SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cortexyme, Inc., a privately held, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel disease-modifying therapeutic approach to treat a key underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other degenerative diseases, today announced the election of veteran biopharma finance executive Christopher J. Senner to the company’s Board of Directors.
“Chris Senner’s deep financial expertise, gained at some of our industry’s most notable companies, makes him an important addition to the Cortexyme Board of Directors,” said Casey Lynch, Cortexyme’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “Cortexyme will benefit greatly from his experience spanning both clinical and commercial stage organizations as we move forward into late stage development of our lead drug candidate, COR388.”
Mr. Senner has nearly three decades of finance experience at industry-leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Exelixis, Inc. (EXEL), a commercially successful, oncology-focused biotech advancing medicines for difficult-to-treat cancers. At Exelixis, Mr. Senner leads a team responsible for providing the financial infrastructure for the company’s growing commercial oncology franchise, broad clinical development operations, and reinitiated drug discovery activities. Before joining Exelixis, Mr. Senner served for five years as Vice President, Corporate Finance at Gilead Sciences. Prior to Gilead, he spent eighteen years at Wyeth, including as CFO of its U.S. pharmaceuticals business and BioPharma Business Unit. Mr. Senner holds a B.S. in Finance from Bentley College.
“In the span of just a few years, Cortexyme has efficiently progressed a promising first-in-class approach to treating an underlying cause of Alzheimer’s into a potentially pivotal study,” said Mr. Senner. “I’m looking forward to sharing my financial expertise with the Cortexyme team as the company executes on its plans to transform the treatment of degenerative disease.”
About Cortexyme
Cortexyme is a privately held, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company pioneering a novel disease-modifying therapeutic approach to treat a key underlying cause of Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative diseases. Cortexyme is targeting a specific, infectious pathogen found in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients and tied to neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in animal models. The company's lead compound, COR388, is beginning the Phase 2/3 GAIN trial in Alzheimer’s disease in the second quarter of 2019; more information can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov. For more information on Cortexyme, visit www.cortexyme.com.
