NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2022 /CNW/ -- Mind Medicine (MindMed)
Inc. (NASDAQ: MNMD), (NEO: MMED), (the "Company"), a clinical stage
biopharmaceutical company developing novel products to treat brain
health disorders, today announced the appointment of Dr.
Suzanne Bruhn and Dr. Roger Crystal, effective August 11, 2022 as independent members of its
Board of Directors.
"We are pleased to welcome both Dr. Bruhn and Dr. Crystal to our
Board. Their collective life sciences experience will be invaluable
as we advance through several key product development inflection
points in the coming year and we look forward to their immediate
contributions to our Company's success," said Robert Barrow, Chief Executive Officer and
Director of MindMed.
"We are delighted to welcome these two executives with broad
experiences and strategic vision to the MindMed Board of
Directors," said Carol Vallone,
Chair of the Board of Directors of MindMed. "Their deep experience
in development and commercialization will serve as a valuable
resource to our directors and executive leadership team as we
execute our strategy to advance our brain health disorder product
candidates through clinical development and potential
commercialization."
- Suzanne Bruhn, PhD is an
accomplished life sciences executive and brings expertise in
R&D, commercialization, and executive leadership to this role.
Dr. Bruhn is the president and CEO, and Director of Tiaki
Therapeutics, a privately held biotech company with a platform
focused on identifying drug targets for neuroinflammation in
neurodegenerative diseases. Before that, she served as president
and CEO of Proclara Biosciences, a clinical-stage company
pioneering a novel approach to treat disorders of protein
misfolding including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease, as well
as orphan amyloidosis. Prior to that she served as president and
CEO of Promedior, Inc., a clinical-stage immunotherapy company
developing targeted therapeutics to treat fibrosis. Prior to
Promedior, she spent 13 years at Shire Human Genetic Therapies
(HGT), a division of Shire PLC, specializing in the development and
commercialization of treatments for orphan diseases, where she held
a series of positions of increasing responsibility before serving
as senior vice president of strategic planning and program
management. During her tenure at Shire HGT, Dr. Bruhn was
responsible for establishing the program management function,
driving strategic planning and portfolio management, and for global
regulatory affairs. Prior to her time at Shire, Dr. Bruhn held
various positions at Cytotherapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology
company. Dr. Bruhn currently sits on the board of directors
of Pliant Therapeutics, Travere Therapeutics and Vigil
Neuroscience. Dr. Bruhn holds a Bachelor's degree in chemistry from
Iowa State University, a Ph.D. in
chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department
of Human Genetics at Harvard Medical
School.
- Roger Crystal, MD brings
more than 15 years of experience as a healthcare business executive
and clinician. He currently serves as President, Chief Executive
Officer and Director for Opiant Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPNT) and
is the lead inventor of the NARCANĀ® Nasal Spray, holding several
issued patents around this product and led its development towards
FDA approval. Mr. Crystal previously served as the Chief Business
Officer for ImaginAb, a venture capital-backed biotechnology
company, leading the company's efforts in immuno-oncology and
managing its pharmaceutical company partnerships and licensing
deals. He began his business career with roles at Goldman Sachs,
A.T. Kearney, and GE Healthcare.
He holds a BMedSci in Physiology and an MD from the University of Birmingham, UK and an MBA from the
London Business School. Prior to his
business career, Dr. Crystal worked for several years as a surgeon,
specializing in ear, nose, and throat, head and neck surgery at
leading institutions including Imperial College Healthcare,
London and was awarded Membership
of The Royal College of Surgeons of
England (MRCS). He was also an
Honorary Research Fellow at University College London and has
authored a number of peer-reviewed scientific articles. Mr. Crystal
serves on the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Innovation
Organization (BIO) and is also a member of the Young Presidents'
Organization, Santa Monica Bay Chapter.
"With MindMed leading the effort to develop innovative solutions
for brain health disorder patients coupled with its growth
prospects makes this an exciting time to join the board of
directors," stated Dr. Sue
Bruhn. "I look forward to working with the Company
leadership and board members to expand MindMed's opportunities for
growth and help achieve their strategic objectives."
"MindMed is at a key inflection point as the Company executes
its development strategy to bring forth therapeutics for those
patients with the greatest need," stated Dr. Roger Crystal. "I am thrilled to have the
opportunity to join the MindMed team as a board member and look
forward to working with the directors and the executive team to
maximize the potential of the Company's very promising product
development pipeline."
In connection with the addition of Drs. Bruhn and Crystal, Dr.
Halperin Wernli has retired from her
position as a Board member but will continue to serve as President
of the Company playing a key leadership role across all of the
Company's organizational and research and development
initiatives.
Carol Vallone, Chair of the Board
of Directors of MindMed commented "On behalf of the Board, we thank
Miri for her visionary leadership, valuable contributions, and
service on the board as she continues in her role working with the
executive team to lead the Company forward at this important
inflection point, as we expand our critical efforts to focus on our
most promising drug candidates, drive increased operating
efficiency and successfully navigate the current macro environment.
We have a full agenda for over the coming period, and I am pleased
to have a proven leader of Miri's caliber to guide our research
efforts as we invest for future growth.
Dr. Miri Halperin Wernli,
Executive President of MindMed commented, "I look forward to
continuing to work alongside my executive colleagues and the Board
as we drive our ongoing development programs to critical clinical
milestones over the coming year and strive to potentially bring
much needed medicines to patients."
About MindMed
MindMed is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing
novel products to treat brain health disorders, with a particular
focus on psychiatry, addiction, pain and neurology. Our mission is
to be the global leader in the development and delivery of
treatments that unlock new opportunities to improve patient
outcomes. We are developing a pipeline of innovative drug
candidates, with and without acute perceptual effects, targeting
the serotonin, dopamine and acetylcholine systems.
MindMed trades on NASDAQ under the symbol MNMD and on the NEO
Exchange under the symbol MMED.
For Media: media@mindmed.co
For Investors: ir@mindmed.co
Cautionary Notes and Forward-looking Statements
This news release includes certain statements that constitute
"forward-looking statements", and "forward-looking information"
within the meaning of applicable securities laws collectively
"forward-looking statements". These include statements regarding
the Company's intent, or the beliefs or current expectations of the
Company's officers and directors. When used in this new release,
words such as "will", "would", "subject to", "anticipates", "at
which time", "will allow", "pursue" and similar expressions are
intended to identify these forward-looking statements as well as
phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results
"may", "could", "would", "should", "occur" or "be achieved" or the
negative connotation of such terms. As well, forward-looking
statements may relate to the Company's future outlook and
anticipated events, such as the expectation that the Common Shares
will resume trading on July 4, 2022
on the NEO Exchange and July 5, 2022
on NASDAQ. Forward-looking statements are based on information
available at the time those statements are made and/or management's
good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and
are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in
or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date those statements are made.
Except as required by applicable law, the Company assumes no
obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any
change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated
by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or
developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors
affecting the forward-looking statements. If the Company updates
any one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be
drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to
those or other forward-looking statements. All forward-looking
statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified
in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
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SOURCE Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc.