Cidara Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel anti-infectives and immunotherapies to treat fungal and other infections, announced today that Robert J. Perez and Timothy R. Franson, M.D., have joined the company’s Board of Directors.
“Mr. Perez and Dr. Franson are recognized leaders in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries and bring a wealth of complimentary operational experience to our board,” said Jeff Stein, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Cidara. “I have had the privilege to work with both of them previously and believe that their collective expertise in pharmaceutical development and commercialization, regulatory affairs, health policy, infectious disease and operations – across many highly respected life science companies – will be invaluable to Cidara as we advance our pipeline to deliver novel anti-infectives to patients and providers.”
Mr. Perez was most recently chief executive officer of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a public pharmaceutical development company. He joined Cubist in August 2003 as senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, and led the launch of Cubicin® (daptomycin for injection). He served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the company from August 2007 to July 2012 and president and chief operating officer from July 2012 to December 2014. Prior to joining Cubist, Perez served as vice president of Biogen, Inc.’s CNS business unit from 2001 to 2003, where he was responsible for commercial leadership of an $800 million neurology business unit. Perez has served as a member of the Amag Pharmaceuticals Board of Directors since 2009. He previously also served as a member of the board of directors for Cubist and for Epix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company. Perez received a B.S. in business from California State University, Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Franson has served as the chief medical officer of YourEncore, an advisory firm focused on global life sciences and consumer health companies, since May 2014. From 2009 until May 2014, he was a principal of FaegreBD Consulting, a clinical and regulatory pharmaceutical development consulting firm, and currently maintains a relationship with FaegreBD through its strategic alliance with YourEncore. From 2008 until 2009, Dr. Franson served as the founder and president of Franson PharmaAdvisors LLC, a clinical and regulatory pharmaceutical development consulting firm. Prior to assuming these roles, Dr. Franson was vice president of Global Regulatory Affairs at Lilly Research Laboratories, a part of Eli Lilly and Company, which he joined in 1986.
Dr. Franson is integrally involved in global public health initiatives through the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), currently serving as the president of this organization and on the executive committee of the USP Board of Trustees. He also recently joined the Board of Directors for the Critical Path Institute, which collaborates with FDA and industry in innovation advances. Dr. Franson has authored more than 50 articles in the fields of infectious disease, epidemiology, pharmacoeconomics, and antibiotic utilization. He holds a B.S. in pharmacy from Drake University and an M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.
About Cidara Therapeutics
Cidara is a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel anti-infectives for the treatment of diseases that are inadequately addressed by current standard-of-care therapies. Cidara’s initial portfolio is comprised of a long-acting echinocandin antifungal product candidate CD101 IV, and CD101 topical, for the treatment of serious fungal infections. In addition, Cidara has developed a proprietary immunotherapy platform, Cloudbreak™, designed to create compounds that direct a patient’s immune cells to attack and eliminate pathogens that cause infectious disease. Cidara is headquartered in San Diego, California
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