BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KRTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven to create and deliver transformative medicines for people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions, today announced the appointment of Charmaine Lykins as chief commercial officer, effective November 29, 2021.
“We are pleased to welcome Charmaine to our leadership team at this pivotal time for Karuna,” said Steve Paul, M.D., chief executive officer, president, and chairman of Karuna Therapeutics. “Charmaine is an incredibly accomplished leader who has dedicated her career to delivering medicines to people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions in the U.S. and globally. Her unparalleled commercialization experience and contributions in launching neuropsychiatric medicines will be invaluable to us in this new role, where she will be responsible for the planning and execution of an integrated commercial strategy as we progress our late-stage clinical pipeline and transition to a commercial-stage company.”
“It’s an exciting time to be joining Karuna as we advance multiple late-stage clinical trials evaluating KarXT, a novel medicine with a truly differentiated mechanism of action that could provide meaningful relief for people living with schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric conditions,” said Charmaine Lykins, chief commercial officer of Karuna Therapeutics. “I look forward to partnering with an experienced team of neuroscience research and development leaders as we build a commercial organization focused on bringing new and potentially better treatment options to people living with these disabling conditions.”
Ms. Lykins brings over 25 years of psychiatry and neuroscience-focused pharmaceutical launch experience across multiple organizations recognized as leaders in developing and commercializing medicines for central nervous system disorders, including Eli Lilly, Lundbeck, Sunovion and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Lykins most recently served as the Senior Vice President, Global Product Planning and Chief Marketing Officer for ACADIA, where she oversaw their healthcare professional and consumer marketing, marketing operations and new product planning functions. Prior to ACADIA, she led commercialization and planning efforts for Lundbeck’s portfolio of schizophrenia treatments from early development through commercialization. Her U.S. and global commercialization and strategic planning experience consists of 10 product launches, including REXULTI® in schizophrenia, depression, and agitation in Alzheimer’s disease, ABILIFY MAINTENA® in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, LATUDA®, CYMBALTA®, and ZYPREXA®, among other medicines representing first-in-class therapies for psychiatric and neurological conditions.
Ms. Lykins received her MBA with an emphasis in international business from University of South Carolina and received her B.A. in chemistry and honors humanities from Ball State University.
About Karuna Therapeutics
Karuna Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven to create and deliver transformative medicines for people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions. At Karuna, we understand there is a need for differentiated and more effective treatments that can help patients navigate the challenges presented by these severe and disabling disorders. Utilizing our extensive knowledge of neuroscience, we are harnessing the untapped potential of the brain in pursuit of novel pathways to develop medicines that make meaningful differences in peoples’ lives. For more information, please visit www.karunatx.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding our expectations about our ongoing and planned clinical trials and regulatory filings, our goals to develop and commercialize our product candidates, the potential clinical benefit of our product candidates and other statements identified by words such as “could,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Forward looking statements are not promises or guarantees of future performance, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. These factors include risks related to our limited operating history, our ability to obtain necessary funding, our ability to generate positive clinical trial results for our product candidates and other risks inherent in clinical development, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals, changes in laws and regulations to which we are subject, competitive pressures, risks relating to business interruptions resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and other risks set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. Our actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by such forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.
