Allena Pharmaceuticals Appoints Mark J. Fitzpatrick to its Board of Directors
April 07 2021 - 8:00AM
Allena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNA), a late-stage
biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and
commercializing first-in-class, oral enzyme therapeutics to treat
patients with rare and severe metabolic and kidney disorders, today
announced the appointment of Mark J. Fitzpatrick to its board of
directors.
“Mark is an experienced industry executive, who
has led financial strategy at biopharmaceutical companies across
all stages of development,” said Louis Brenner, M.D., President and
Chief Executive Officer of Allena Pharmaceuticals. “His extensive
experience working with late-stage, rare disease companies will be
particularly valuable as we continue to advance our ongoing Phase 3
URIROX-2 clinical trial and begin preparing for the potential
launch of reloxaliase as a first-in-class treatment for enteric
hyperoxaluria.”
Mr. Fitzpatrick brings over 30 years of
operational and financial management experience to Allena. Most
recently, he spent six years at Chiasma, Inc. where he served
initially as Chief Financial Officer and subsequently President and
Chief Executive Officer, and played an integral role in securing
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of MYCAPSSA® for
the treatment of acromegaly. Prior to Chiasma, he served as Chief
Financial Officer for several biopharmaceutical companies. In these
roles, Mr. Fitzpatrick raised over $1.5 billion in both public and
private equity and debt financings, and helped negotiate strategic
collaborations with both large pharmaceutical companies and
commercial contract manufacturers. Mr. Fitzpatrick began his career
at Arthur Andersen LLP and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Boston
College.
“I am delighted to join Allena’s board of
directors,” said Mr. Fitzpatrick. “Based on the data generated to
date and its unique mechanism of action, I believe reloxaliase has
the potential to revolutionize the treatment of enteric
hyperoxaluria, providing patients with the first therapeutic option
specifically developed for their disease. I am eager to lend my
expertise to help advance this program, while also supporting
Allena in the development of its broader pipeline, including
ALLN-346 for the treatment of patients with hyperuricemia and
chronic kidney disease.”
In conjunction with Mr. Fitzpatrick’s
appointment, Allena announced that board members James Topper,
M.D., Ph.D., managing general partner at Frazier Healthcare and a
founding member of the company’s board of directors since 2011, and
Andrew A. F. Hack, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the company’s board of
directors since 2018, will not stand for re-election at the
Company's annual meeting in June.
“On behalf of the entire Allena team, I want to
thank Jamie and Andrew for their service,” said Alexey Margolin,
Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of Allena Pharmaceuticals. “Jamie has
been a supportive, committed member of Allena’s board since the
inception of the company and we are grateful for his many years of
dedication and guidance. Together, Jamie and Andrew have
contributed many important insights, which have been instrumental
in enabling Allena to expand its clinical-stage pipeline and pursue
its vision of building a public, fully-integrated, patient-focused
biopharmaceutcal company.”
About Allena
Pharmaceuticals
Allena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a
late-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering,
developing and commercializing first-in-class, oral biologic
therapeutics to treat patients with rare and severe metabolic and
kidney disorders. Allena’s lead product candidate, reloxaliase, is
currently being evaluated in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical program for
the treatment of enteric hyperoxaluria, a metabolic disorder
characterized by markedly elevated urinary oxalate levels and
commonly associated with kidney stones, chronic kidney disease and
other serious kidney disorders. Allena is also developing ALLN-346
for the treatment of hyperuricemia in the setting of gout and
advanced chronic kidney disease, with a Phase 1 multiple-ascending
dose study and a Phase 2a program planned for 2021.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including,
without limitation, statements concerning the future composition of
the Board of Directors. Any forward-looking statements in this
press release are based on management’s current expectations of
future events and are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to: market and other conditions, the
timing for completion of Allena’s clinical trials of its product
candidates, risks associated with obtaining, maintaining and
protecting intellectual property; risks associated with Allena’s
ability to enforce its patents against infringers and defend its
patent portfolio against challenges from third parties; the risk of
competition from other companies developing products for similar
uses; risk associated with Allena’s financial condition and its
need to obtain additional funding to support its business
activities, including the future clinical development of
reloxaliase and its ability to continue as a going concern; risks
associated with Allena’s dependence on third parties; and risks
related to the COVID-19 coronavirus. For a discussion of other
risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which
could cause Allena’s actual results to differ from those contained
in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled
“Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part I of Allena’s Annual Report
on Form 10-k for the period ended December 31,
2020, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and
other important factors in Allena’s subsequent filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in
this press release is as of the date of the release, and Allena
undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by
law.
Investor ContactHannah
DeresiewiczStern Investor Relations,
Inc.212-362-1200hannah.deresiewicz@sternir.com
Media ContactAdam DaleyBerry
& Company Public Relations 212-253-8881adaley@berrypr.com
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