LEXINGTON, Mass., May 31, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Curis, Inc. (Nasdaq:CRIS), an oncology-focused company seeking to develop next generation targeted drug candidates for cancer treatment, today announced the appointment of Dr. Mani Mohindru as Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations. In this role, Dr. Mohindru will leverage her expertise and experience to support the development and execution of corporate strategy and provide key leadership roles in Curis' product strategy, corporate development, investor relations and corporate communications.
"Dr. Mohindru brings to Curis a strong and unique understanding of cancer drug markets and development strategies due to her wealth of experience in the analysis of the biotechnology sector," said Mike Gray, Curis Chief Business and Financial Officer. "Mani's diverse set of industry knowledge, professional networks, and experience will be an important addition to our team as we seek to advance our pipeline of novel oncology drug candidates for patients and work to create long-term shareholder value."
Prior to joining Curis, Dr. Mohindru spent several years as a Wall Street equity research analyst covering the biotechnology sector, including analyst roles at ThinkEquity LLC, Credit Suisse Securities and UBS Securities. Dr. Mohindru was a healthcare industry consultant at Axon Healthcare Partners and SAI Healthcare, which was acquired by IMS Health, and also a Managing Director in healthcare investment banking at Capstone Investments. She received her Ph.D. in Neurosciences from Northwestern University, as well as a B.Sc. in Human Biology and a M.S. in Biotechnology from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
"I am excited to join the Curis team as the company continues to advance its proprietary cancer drug candidates CUDC-907 and CUDC-427 in clinical trials, and to work with our partners Genentech and Debiopharm on Erivedge® and Debio 0932," said Dr. Mohindru. "Given these achievements, I believe Curis is well-positioned to leverage its expertise in developing cancer therapeutics and become a leading innovator of targeted oncology drug candidates."
About Curis, Inc.
Curis is an oncology-focused company seeking to develop and commercialize next generation targeted drug candidates for cancer treatment. Erivedge® is the first and only FDA-approved medicine for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma and is being commercialized and developed by Roche and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, under a collaboration agreement between Curis and Genentech. Curis is also developing its pipeline of proprietary targeted cancer drug candidates, including CUDC-427, a small molecule antagonist of IAP proteins; CUDC-907, a dual PI3K and HDAC inhibitor; and CUDC-101, an EGFR/HER2 and HDAC inhibitor. For more information, visit Curis' website at www.curis.com.
Cautionary Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation statements regarding Curis' expectations about the potential benefits of Curis' drug candidates and Dr. Mohindru's expected contributions to the Company. Forward-looking statements used in this press release may contain the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "seeks", "estimates", "assumes", "will", "may," "could" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. For example, Curis and its collaborators may experience adverse results, delays and/or failures in their drug development programs. Curis' drug candidates may cause unexpected toxicities and/or fail to demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy in clinical trials and may never achieve the requisite regulatory approval needed for commercialization. Curis will require substantial additional capital to fund the research and development of its drug development programs. The proceeds of Curis' royalty-secured loan may not be sufficient to fund its near-term capital requirements for advancing programs. Curis may not obtain or maintain necessary patent protection for its programs and could become involved in expensive and time consuming patent litigation and interference proceedings. Curis faces substantial competition from other companies developing cancer therapeutics.Unstable market and economic conditions may adversely affect Curis' financial conditions and its ability to access capital to fund the growth of its business. Curis also faces other important risks relating to its business, operations, financial condition and future prospects that are discussed in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 and other filings that it periodically makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition, any forward-looking statements represent the views of Curis only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing Curis' views as of any subsequent date. Curis disclaims any intention or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: Michael P. Gray
Chief Financial Officer
Curis, Inc.
617-503-6632
mgray@curis.com