- Nagesh Mahanthappa, Ph.D., MBA, company’s
founding chief executive, passes the baton after leading company
since 2012
- Tony Kingsley, a proven leader with a
successful track record of advancing companies, to lead through
next phase of clinical development growth and commercial
preparedness
- Company on-track for clinical data readouts
in 2020 and 2021 from SRK-015 Phase 2 clinical trial in Spinal
Muscular Atrophy and SRK-181 Phase 1 clinical trial in cancer
immunotherapy
Scholar Rock (NASDAQ: SRRK), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company focused on the treatment of serious diseases in which
protein growth factors play a fundamental role, today announced the
appointment of Tony Kingsley as president and chief executive
officer, effective August 1, 2020. Mr. Kingsley, who was appointed
to Scholar Rock’s Board of Directors in May, replaces Nagesh K.
Mahanthappa, Ph.D., MBA, who has chosen to step down after serving
in this role since 2012. Dr. Mahanthappa will also be stepping down
from the Board of Directors on August 1, 2020, after which he will
serve as a scientific advisor to the company.
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Tony Kingsley (Photo: Business Wire)
“Scholar Rock is at an exciting inflection point, with great
scientific strength, two product candidates in clinical development
and multiple milestones in 2020 and 2021,” said Mr. Kingsley. “I
look forward to working with our extraordinary team to continue
advancing our highly innovative research and platform capabilities,
as well as lead the company through its next phase of growth,
bringing desperately needed therapies to patients who often have
limited treatment options.”
Mr. Kingsley is an experienced CEO and a leader with a track
record of driving growth, strategy and all facets of corporate
operations. He was most recently president and chief executive
officer of Taris Bio, prior to its acquisition by Janssen
Pharmaceuticals at the end of 2019. Prior to Taris, he served as
president and chief operating officer of The Medicines Company, and
from 2010 to 2015, Mr. Kingsley led global commercial operations at
Biogen, Inc. as executive vice president. Prior to Biogen, he held
leadership roles in the medical device industry, including senior
vice president and general manager of the gynecological surgical
products business at Hologic, Inc. and division president,
diagnostic products at Cytyc Corporation (now part of Hologic,
Inc.), and was also a partner at McKinsey & Company. He
received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA
from Harvard Business School.
“Nagesh has been a remarkable executive, building upon
breakthrough academic research to lead Scholar Rock through the
initial start-up phase to create a special company now poised to
move multiple product candidates through clinical development and
hopefully to patients in real need. On behalf of the entire board
of directors, we want to thank Nagesh for his vision and leadership
over the past eight years,” said David Hallal, Chairman of the
Scholar Rock Board of Directors. “Building on the tremendous
foundation Nagesh has established, Tony’s clinical development,
strategic, and commercial acumen will lead and drive Scholar Rock
to further the company’s great potential. Tony has extensive
experience in launching and growing franchises and companies, and
we are thrilled that he’s taking the helm of the company at this
pivotal time.”
Dr. Mahanthappa is the founding employee of Scholar Rock,
serving as president, CEO and a member of the Board of Directors
since 2012. Under his leadership, the company has created a
proprietary platform for the discovery of innovative antibody
therapeutics focused on exploiting the structural differences of
the precursors, or latent forms, of protein growth factors. During
Dr. Mahanthappa’s tenure as president and CEO, he has been
instrumental in developing the company’s breakthrough research
through to clinical trials for two distinct product candidates,
securing approximately $250 million in capital including an initial
public offering, establishing value-creating collaborations with
Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Janssen Biotech, Inc., and building a
team of more than 100 talented employees.
Scholar Rock has two product candidates in clinical development:
SRK-015 in a Phase 2 trial for the improvement of muscle function
in patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and SRK-181 in a
Phase 1 trial in patients with solid tumors to overcome resistance
to checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Both programs emerged from
in-house discovery programs and have the potential to deliver
multiple clinical readouts this year. The company is also advancing
a strategic collaboration with Gilead to develop highly selective
inhibitors of latent TGFβ activation for the treatment of fibrotic
disorders and continues to build upon its research excellence to
bring new antibodies to the clinic.
About Scholar Rock
Scholar Rock is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines
for the treatment of serious diseases in which signaling by protein
growth factors plays a fundamental role. Scholar Rock is creating a
pipeline of novel product candidates with the potential to
transform the lives of patients suffering from a wide range of
serious diseases, including neuromuscular disorders, cancer,
fibrosis and anemia. Scholar Rock’s newly elucidated understanding
of the molecular mechanisms of growth factor activation enabled it
to develop a proprietary platform for the discovery and development
of monoclonal antibodies that locally and selectively target these
signaling proteins at the cellular level. By developing product
candidates that act in the disease microenvironment, the Company
intends to avoid the historical challenges associated with
inhibiting growth factors for therapeutic effect. Scholar Rock
believes its focus on biologically validated growth factors may
facilitate a more efficient development path. For more information,
please visit www.ScholarRock.com or follow Scholar Rock on Twitter
(@ScholarRock) and LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/scholar-rock/).
Scholar Rock® is a registered trademark of Scholar Rock,
Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding Scholar
Rock’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including without
limitation, Scholar Rock’s expectations regarding its growth,
strategy, progress; the ability of new executives to influence
Scholar Rock’s progress; plans for existing executives; timing of
its clinical trials for SRK-015, SRK-181, and other product
candidates; the ability of any product candidate to perform in
humans in a manner consistent with nonclinical or preclinical study
data; and progress under its collaboration with Gilead. The use of
words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,”
“anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “future,”
“potential,” or “continue,” and other similar expressions are
intended to identify such forward-looking statements. All such
forward-looking statements 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
Scholar Rock’s ability to provide the financial support, resources
and expertise necessary to identify and develop product candidates
on the expected timeline; preclinical data and results may not be
predictive of clinical results; competition from third parties that
are developing products for similar uses; Scholar Rock’s ability to
obtain, maintain and protect its intellectual property; Scholar
Rock’s ability to support its current and potential future
collaborations, including its collaboration with Gilead; Scholar
Rock’s dependence on third parties for development and manufacture
of product candidates including to supply any clinical trials; and
those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled "Risk
Factors" in Scholar Rock’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended March 31, 2020, as well as discussions of potential
risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Scholar Rock’s
subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any
forward-looking statements represent Scholar Rock’s views only as
of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as
of any subsequent date. All information in this press release is as
of the date of the release, and Scholar Rock undertakes no duty to
update this information unless required by law.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200714005261/en/
Scholar Rock Contact: Investors/Media Catherine Hu
chu@scholarrock.com 917-601-1649
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