LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cyteir Therapeutics, Inc. (“Cyteir”) (Nasdaq: CYT), a company focused on the discovery and development of next-generation synthetically lethal therapies for cancer, today announced the appointment of John F. Thero to its board of directors. Mr. Thero will chair the audit committee. His appointment will increase the number of Cyteir board directors from eight to nine.
Mr. Thero is an accomplished financial and operations executive with more than 30 years of experience in senior roles, including more than 20 years supporting the growth of life science companies. In 2019, Mr. Thero was named Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur of the Year for Life Sciences.
“John has valuable experience in helping emerging growth companies overcome challenges and create shareholder value. He has successfully developed and launched new products, most notably Amarin’s VASCEPA®, and entered various forms of strategic relationships with larger companies. As Cyteir grows, John’s insights and experience will be very helpful to Cyteir,” said Markus Renschler, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cyteir. “On behalf of our entire board, we are excited to welcome John and look forward to his contributions.”
From 2009, until he elected to retire in August 2021, Mr. Thero was an executive officer at Amarin Corporation PLC, including serving as President since 2010 and as Chief Executive Officer and a member of its board of directors since 2014. During his tenure at Amarin, he helped successfully lead the company through clinical development, global regulatory approvals, and commercialization of VASCEPA®. Prior to Amarin, Mr. Thero served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at ViaCell, Inc., where he helped guide the company in its sale to PerkinElmer, and Abiomed, Inc., where he held multiple positions, including Senior Vice President of Business Operations and CFO. Mr. Thero began his professional career at Arthur Andersen LLP. He received a B.A. in Economics and Accounting from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is currently a member of the board of directors at CinCor Pharma, Inc.
“I am excited to be joining the board of Cyteir Therapeutics as CYT-0851 advances and has the potential to become an important therapeutic option for oncology patients,” said Mr. Thero. “I look forward to working with the other members of the board and Cyteir’s management team to help drive growth and execution at Cyteir.”
About Cyteir Therapeutics, Inc.
Cyteir is a clinical-stage oncology company that is focused on the discovery and development of next-generation synthetically lethal therapies to treat cancer. The company is using its expertise in DNA damage response biology to advance a pipeline of novel drug candidates that selectively target key cancer vulnerabilities. Cyteir’s wholly owned lead compound, CYT-0851, is a potent and selective, oral investigational drug that was designed to inhibit RAD51-mediated homologous recombination and the repair of double-strand DNA breaks.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” regarding Cyteir’s growth, strategy and anticipated clinical developments. Forward-looking statements include statements identified by words such as “could,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “continues,” “projects” and similar references to future periods. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. As a result, actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include: our limited operating history; that we have incurred significant losses since inception and expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability; our need for substantial additional funding; that we have never successfully completed any clinical trials; that our clinical trials may fail to demonstrate adequately the safety and efficacy of any of our drug candidates; our intention to develop CYT-0851, and potentially future drug candidates, for use in combination with other therapies, which exposes us to additional risks; our ability to successfully develop and commercialize companion diagnostic tests for our drug candidates; negative perceptions of the efficacy, safety or tolerability of precision medicine targets; our ability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property or obtain and maintain patent protection for our technology and products appropriately scoped for our commercialization plans; the continuing outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States and other countries; and other factors described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, including under the heading “Risk Factors” in Cyteir’s final prospectus dated June 17, 2021 related to our initial public offering. Any forward-looking statement made in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The company does not undertake any obligation to update any such statement or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any such statements to reflect future events or developments, except as required by law.
For further information, please reference the company’s reports and documents filed with the SEC. You may get these documents by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
