SCYNEXIS Announces Appointment of Industry Veteran Marion McCourt to its Board of Directors
— Former Chief Operating Officer of Medivation adds broad experience in commercial, strategy, operations and business development —
— SCYNEXIS to ramp up commercial preparatory and territorial licensing activities for its lead product, SCY-078 —
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jan. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SCYNEXIS, Inc. (Nasdaq:SCYX), a pharmaceutical company developing novel anti-infectives to address unmet therapeutic needs, today announced the appointment of Marion McCourt to its Board of Directors. Ms. McCourt most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Medivation, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of medically innovative therapies to treat serious diseases for which there are limited treatment options, until the acquisition of Medivation by Pfizer in September 2016. The appointment expands the SCYNEXIS Board to eight members.
"Marion brings diverse operational and commercial expertise to the SCYNEXIS Board as we prepare to advance our promising lead anti-fungal candidate, SCY-078, into later-stage trials and commence pre-commercial activities,” said Guy Macdonald, Chairman of the Board of SCYNEXIS. "On behalf of my fellow Board members, I would like to welcome Marion and look forward to her contributions and expertise as we carry out the important work of bringing novel antifungal treatments to patients."
"2016 was a successful year for our company, and given our recent clinical progress with SCY-078, the addition of Marion’s commercial, marketing and reimbursement expertise to our Board will serve us well," said Marco Taglietti, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of SCYNEXIS. "We are privileged to have Marion join us at this important time in our evolution, and we are eager to leverage her insights and guidance as we continue to advance the development of SCY-078 in multiple indications and to expand our business development activities."
“It has been many years since significant advancements have been made in the fight against invasive fungal infections, and growing resistance to current treatment alternatives is quickly emerging as a global public health crisis,” said Ms. McCourt. “I am impressed by SCYNEXIS’ progress to date, and I believe that SCY-078 has the potential to address significant unmet medical needs. I am honored to join such an impressive team of executives and directors, and I look forward to contributing to the Company’s future success.”
Ms. McCourt brings to the SCYNEXIS Board more than two decades of wide-ranging leadership experience at several of the world's most respected and innovative biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Medivation as Chief Operating Officer in February 2016, Ms. Marion served as Vice President of U.S. Commercial Operations at Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies. Prior to that, she also served as Vice President and General Manager of Amgen’s Bone Health & Primary Care Business Unit. Before joining Amgen, Ms. McCourt held numerous positions of increasing responsibility over a twelve-year career at AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) in the U.S. and Canada. There, she ultimately achieved the title of Chief Operating Officer of AstraZeneca U.S. where she was responsible for all U.S. commercial functions, including medical affairs, business development, finance, human resources, legal, operations, and corporate affairs. Ms. McCourt holds a B.S. degree in Biology from Lafayette College.
About SCYNEXIS, Inc.
SCYNEXIS is a pharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of novel anti-infectives to address significant unmet therapeutic needs. We are developing our lead product candidate, SCY-078, as an oral and IV drug for the treatment of several fungal infections, including serious and life-threatening invasive fungal infections. For more information, visit www.scynexis.com.
Forward Looking Statement
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are expected to occur in the future are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to: SCYNEXIS’s plan to advance SCY-078 to the next stages of development in 2017. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited, to: risks inherent in SCYNEXIS' ability to successfully develop SCY-078, including SCYNEXIS' ability to obtain FDA approval for SCY-078; the expected costs of studies and when they might begin or be concluded; and SCYNEXIS' reliance on third parties to conduct SCYNEXIS' clinical studies. These and other risks are described more fully in SCYNEXIS' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K under the caption "Risk Factors" and other documents subsequently filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. SCYNEXIS undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.
CONTACT: Media Relations Cammy Duong MacDougall Biomedical Communications Tel: 781.235.3060 cduong@macbiocom.com Investor Relations Susan Kim Argot Partners Tel: 212.203.4433 susan@argotpartners.com
Released January 26, 2017