CymaBay Appoints Thomas Wiggans and Janet Dorling to Board of Directors

/EIN News/ -- NEWARK, Calif., April 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBAY), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for liver and other chronic diseases with high unmet need, today announced the appointment of biopharma veteran Thomas Wiggans and commercial leader Janet Dorling to its Board of Directors. Concurrently with these appointments, CymaBay announced that Paul F. Truex has resigned from the Board of Directors effective as of April 1, 2021 to focus on his new role as Chief Executive Officer of LQT Therapeutics.

“We are truly excited to be welcoming Tom and Janet to the Board. Tom’s experience leading biopharma companies, such as Dermira, Peplin and Connetics, through development to commercialization makes him a perfect addition to guide us through our next phase of development and commercialization,” said Dr. Robert Wills, CymaBay’s Chairman of the Board. “Janet was formerly our Chief Commercial Officer and is now the Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Product Strategy at Gilead. Over the course of her career at Gilead, CymaBay, Achaogen, Roche and Genentech she has extensive senior executive experience in global marketing, commercialization and strategic planning across multinational biopharmaceutical companies, something that will be critical to the company as it moves forward. On behalf of the entire Board I also want to extend our gratitude to Paul for his work over the past five years at CymaBay. His advice and counsel have been key in guiding the Company through critical periods of strategic transition and we wish him success in his new role.”

“I’m delighted to be working with the CymaBay Board at such an exciting time for the company,” said Mr. Wiggans. “I look forward to partnering with the executive team and the Board as we prepare the company for its next stage of transition and growth in bringing novel treatments to patients.”

“I’ve had an opportunity to see first hand the potential that seladelpar has to significantly advance patient care in PBC,” said Ms. Dorling. “I’m excited to once again play a role in the important work that lies ahead for the company.”

“We are incredibly fortunate to be able to add such extensive experience and critical skill sets to our Board as we move through key inflection points at CymaBay including advancing our lead program, seladelpar, from the final stages of clinical development to commercialization and expanding our pipeline,” added President and Chief Executive Officer, Sujal Shah. “Tom has had a distinguished career as an operator and director across numerous biopharma companies. In addition to her leadership as a commercial executive at two of the most successful biotech companies in the world, Janet has unique insight into the potential opportunity seladelpar has to significantly advance patient care in PBC having previously served as Chief Commercial Officer at CymaBay. I’m confident that both will have an immediate impact on our mission to bring novel treatments to patients with chronic inflammatory diseases.”

About Mr. Wiggans
Mr. Wiggans is a veteran biopharmaceutical executive, having founded Dermira, Inc. in 2010 and served as its chairman and chief executive officer until it was acquired by Eli Lilly and Company in February 2020. Prior to founding Dermira, Mr. Wiggans served as chairman and chief executive officer of Peplin, Inc. until Peplin’s acquisition by LEO Pharma A/S in 2009. He also served as chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Connetics Corporation until it was acquired by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. in 2006. Prior to Connetics, he served as president and chief operating officer of CytoTherapeutics Inc. and in various management positions at Ares-Serono S.A., including as president of its U.S. pharmaceutical operations and managing director of its U.K. pharmaceutical operations. He began his career with Eli Lilly and Company.

Mr. Wiggans has served on the boards of numerous public and private companies including Excaliard, Somaxon, Corthera, Sangamo and Onyx. He is a long-standing member of the board of directors of BIO, as well as a member of the board of trustees of the University of Kansas Endowment Association. He holds a B.S. in pharmacy from the University of Kansas and an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.

About Ms. Dorling
Ms. Dorling has been the Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Product Strategy at Gilead Sciences Inc. since May 2020. She was the Chief Commercial Officer at CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. from August 2019 to December 2019 and the Chief Commercial Officer at Achaogen from 2017 to 2019. Previously she served as Vice President, Breast Cancer Franchise, Global Product Strategy from 2015 to 2017 at Roche and from 2003 through 2015 served in various marketing and commercial roles at Genentech.

Throughout her career, Ms. Dorling launched numerous products across multiple therapeutic areas including ophthalmology and oncology. Ms. Dorling received a M.S. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

About CymaBay
CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for liver and other chronic diseases with high unmet medical need. CymaBay is developing seladelpar, a potent, selective, orally active PPARδ agonist for patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Seladelpar has received an orphan designation from the US Food and Drug administration (FDA) and the European Medicine Agency (EMA). Seladelpar also received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA for early stage PBC and PRIority MEdicines status from the EMA. CymaBay is currently commencing a global, Phase 3 registration study of seladelpar for PBC. This study is a 52-week, placebo-controlled, randomized, phase 3 study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of seladelpar (RESPONSE) in patients with PBC. For more information about RESPONSE, please visit: www.pbcstudies.com. 

Cautionary Statements
The statements in this press release regarding the potential for seladelpar to treat PBC, the potential benefits to patients, CymaBay’s expectations and plans regarding product development and its current and future clinical trials, and CymaBay’s ability to fund current and planned clinical trials are forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events regarding the further development of seladelpar could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to: the success, cost and timing of any of CymaBay's product development activities, including clinical trials; effects observed in trials to date that may not be repeated in the future; any delays or inability to obtain or maintain regulatory approval of CymaBay's product candidates in the United States or worldwide; and the ability of CymaBay to obtain sufficient financing to complete development, regulatory approval and commercialization of its product candidates in the United States and worldwide. Additional risks relating to CymaBay are contained in CymaBay's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents subsequently filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. CymaBay disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements except as required by law.

For additional information about CymaBay visit www.cymabay.com.

Public Relations Contact:                                    

Glenn Silver
Lazar-FINN Partners
(973) 818-8198
Glenn.silver@finnpartners.com 

Investor Relations Contact:

Hans Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
(617) 430-7578
Hans@LifeSciAdvisors.com