PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Renovacor, Inc. (NYSE: RCOR), a biotechnology company focused on delivering innovative precision therapies to improve the lives of patients and families battling genetically-driven cardiovascular and mechanistically-related diseases, today announced the appointment of Fred Driscoll as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
“Fred has a wealth of experience guiding financial strategy for publicly-traded biotech companies and we are thrilled to welcome him to Renovacor,” said Magdalene Cook, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Renovacor. “His deep expertise in accounting and capital markets, together with his impressive track record of forging value accretive business development agreements with industry-leaders and government agencies, will be instrumental to our strategic evolution as a company. We are eager to begin our work together. I would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Wendy DiCicco for the invaluable contributions she made during her time as Renovacor’s Interim CFO.”
Mr. Driscoll added, “Renovacor’s impressive management team, strong financial foundation, and sound scientific strategy make the opportunity to serve as its CFO a truly exciting one. The company is leveraging a robust understanding of BAG3 biology and a validated capsid to target the underlying cause of a monogenic disease. Taken together, that forms the foundation of an innovative gene transfer technology that I believe positions its lead program, REN-001, for success as it moves towards an expected IND submission in the second half of this year. I believe my skill set is highly complementary to those of my new colleagues, and expect this to serve us well as we work to develop innovative precision therapies designed to transform the treatment paradigm of genetically-driven cardiovascular and related diseases.”
Mr. Driscoll joins Renovacor with over 25 years of executive experience in the biotech industry. He most recently served as the CFO of Flexion Therapeutics (Flexion), where he led the company through a successful $75 million initial public offering in 2014 and subsequently raised an additional $450 million in capital for the company. He was also a member of the merger and acquisitions team that executed the sale of Flexion to Pacira BioSciences in 2021 for up to $1 billion in enterprise value. Prior to his time at Flexion, Mr. Driscoll was the CFO of Novavax, Inc., where he played a crucial role in doubling the size of the company’s institutional shareholder base and led a team that secured more than $340 million in capital through a combination of public offerings and government contracts. He previously served as CFO and CEO of Genelabs Technologies, Inc., where he negotiated the sale of the company to GlaxoSmithKline at a 465% share price premium. Prior to Genelabs, Mr. Driscoll served as CFO and subsequently President and CEO of OXiGENE, Inc., Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations at Collagenesis Corp., and Vice President of Finance, Americas, for Instrumentation Laboratory. He earned a B.S. in accounting and finance from Bentley University and is currently an independent member of the boards of directors of Cellectar Biosciences, MEI Pharma and Cue Biopharma.
About Renovacor
Renovacor is a biotechnology company focused on delivering innovative precision therapies to improve the lives of patients and families battling genetically-driven cardiovascular and mechanistically-related diseases. The company’s lead program in BAG3-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) uses gene transfer technology to address the monogenic cause of this severe form of heart failure. Renovacor’s vision is to bring life-changing therapies to patients living with serious genetic cardiovascular and related diseases, by developing medicines that target the underlying cause of disease and provide a transformative benefit and significant improvement to quality of life.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including statements regarding the anticipated development of Renovacor’s product candidates and Renovacor’s financial outlook. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions of the Company and its management and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this presentation. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: competition, the ability of the company to grow and manage growth, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees; the Company's ability to successfully advance its current and future product candidates through development activities, preclinical studies and clinical trials and costs related thereto; the timing, scope and likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, including final regulatory approval of our product candidates; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by other economic, business or competitive factors; the Company’s estimates of expenses and profitability; the evolution of the markets in which the Company competes; the ability of the Company to implement its strategic initiatives and continue to innovate its existing products; the ability of the Company to defend its intellectual property; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, supply chain and labor force; and the risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company's annual and quarterly and reports filed the Securities Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Renovacor assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Renovacor gives no assurance that it will achieve its expectations.
