Exhibit 99.1
Nightstar Appoints Strategic Biotechnology Executive Paula Cobb to its Board of Directors
WALTHAM, Mass and LONDON, UK – September
13, 2018
(GLOBE NEWSWIRE)
–
Nightstar Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:NITE), a
clinical-stage gene therapy company developing treatments for rare inherited retinal diseases, today announced that the company has appointed strategic biotechnology executive Paula Cobb to its board of directors.
“We are very happy to welcome Paula to our board of directors and working alongside the very strong team we have built at Nightstar,” said David
Fellows, chief executive officer of Nightstar. “Paula brings strategic, worldwide commercialization experience in rare diseases having led teams to three new drug approvals and playing key roles on four product launches, which will be
invaluable as Nightstar evolves into a commercial-stage company.”
Ms. Cobb currently serves as the executive vice president of corporate
development at Decibel Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to joining Decibel, she served as senior vice president of the rare disease group at Biogen, where she was responsible for the company’s marketed hemophilia assets and Phase 3 programs in spinal
muscular atrophy and neuropathic pain. Prior to this role, she managed the multiple sclerosis franchise, led new product commercialization for early pipeline programs, served as chief of staff to the CEO and held various operational management roles
with Biogen in Europe. Before Biogen, she worked for various consulting groups in the Boston area. Ms. Cobb graduated cum laude from Amherst College with a B.A. in political science and English. She also received an MBA from Harvard University
Graduate School of Business Administration.
About Nightstar
Nightstar is a leading clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing and commercializing novel
one-time
treatments for patients suffering from rare inherited retinal diseases that would otherwise progress to blindness. Nightstar’s lead product candidate,
NSR-REP1,
is currently in Phase 3 development for the
treatment of patients with choroideremia, a rare, degenerative, genetic retinal disorder that has no treatments currently available and affects approximately one in every 50,000 people. Positive results from a Phase 1/2 trials of
NSR-REP1
were published in
The Lancet
in 2014 and in
The New England Journal of Medicine
in 2016. Nightstar’s second product candidate,
NSR-RPGR,
is currently being evaluated in a clinical trial known as the XIRIUS trial for the treatment of patients with
X-linked
retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited
X-linked
recessive retinal disease that affects approximately one in every 40,000 people.
For more information about
Nightstar or its clinical trials, please visit
www.nightstartx.com
.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words
“believe,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “estimate,” “will,” “would,” “may,” “should,” “project,” “target,” “track,”
“expect” or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of
historical facts are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: our potential commercialization of our product candidates, our planned and ongoing clinical trials for
NSR-REP1
and
NSR-RPGR,
including our Phase 3 STAR trial in choroideremia and Phase 1/2 XIRIUS trial in
X-linked
retinitis pigmentosa, the prevalence of patient populations for our targeted
indications, and the utility of prior preclinical and clinical data in determining future clinical results. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations of future events as of the date of this release and are
subject to a number of substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements, including those related to the timing and costs involved in commercializing any product candidate that receives regulatory approval; the initiation, timing and conduct of clinical trials; the availability of data
from clinical trials and expectations for regulatory submissions and approvals; our scientific approach and general development progress; the availability or commercial potential of the our product candidates; the sufficiency of our cash resources,
and other risks and uncertainties set forth in Item 3.D. “Risk Factors” section of our Annual Report on Form
20-F
for the year ended December 31, 2017 and subsequent reports that we file with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, estimates or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual
results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, estimates and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. We are under
no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking
statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Any reference to our website address in this press release is intended to be an inactive textual reference only and not an active hyperlink.
###
Contact:
Senthil Sundaram, Chief Financial Officer
Brian Luque, Sr.
Manager, Investor Relations
investors@nightstartx.com