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 Stephen Sands to its Board of Directors, to serve as a Class I director, effective as of February 22, 2022. Mr. Sands was also appointed to serve as a member of the Audit Committee. In connection with Mr. Sands’ appointment, the Board also increased the size of the Board to ten members.
Mr. Sands is currently the Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Chairman of the Global Healthcare Group at Lazard and brings over 25-years of experience providing strategic and financial advice to senior executives and boards of directors at leading healthcare and life sciences companies globally to the organization.
“I am excited to have Stephen join Cyteir’s board and be able to leverage his strategic and financial expertise in helping our company grow. We look forward to his insights as we continue to build and expand our corporate strategy to advance our portfolio,” said Markus Renschler, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cyteir. “On behalf of our entire board, we are excited to welcome Stephen and look forward to his contributions.”
Prior to joining Lazard, Mr. Sands was a partner in the healthcare practice of McKinsey & Company. During his career, he has co-founded two life sciences companies: Enzytech (acquired by Alkermes) and Opta Food Ingredients (acquired by Stake Technology). Mr. Sands also serves as a director on the board of Cytosite Biopharma Inc. Mr. Sands is a member of the Washington University (St. Louis) School of Engineering & Applied Science National Counsel, and a trustee, member of the executive committee and co-chair of the nominating and governance committee of the New York Hall of Science. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Oberlin College, a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from New York University.
“I am excited to be joining the board of Cyteir Therapeutics as the company advances CYT-0851 and continues to expand the portfolio. CYT-0851 has the potential to become an important therapeutic option for oncology patients,” said Mr. Sands. “I look forward to working with the management team and other members of the board to help execute on Cyteir’s strategy.”
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, expansion of its portfolio and CYT-0851’s potential to be an important therapeutic option for oncology patients. 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.
