BioCryst Appoints Helen Thackray, M.D., as Chief Research and Development Officer
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., March 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:BCRX) today announced that the company has appointed Helen Thackray, M.D., FAAP, to the newly created position of chief research and development officer.
In this role, Dr. Thackray will be responsible for continuing to build the company’s portfolio of rare disease medicines by developing and advancing the company’s R&D strategy from drug discovery through clinical development and regulatory approval.
Dr. Thackray currently serves on the BioCryst board of directors and most recently served as chief medical officer and senior vice president of clinical development at GlycoMimetics, Inc. where she led their orphan product, fast track, and breakthrough therapy programs at all stages of development in rare diseases and oncology.
Prior to joining GlycoMimetics, Dr. Thackray was vice president of clinical development at Biosynexus, and served for over a decade on the research ethics review board of the National Center for Healthcare Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She is a board-certified pediatrician, serving on the faculty of the Children’s National Medical Center and George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences from 2000-present. Dr. Thackray has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed articles and presentations.
“We have seen first-hand from her many contributions as a board member how Helen’s strategic understanding of drug development enhances and accelerates our programs and we are thrilled to add her expertise to the leadership team of BioCryst as we build on our recent success and shape the future of the company,” said Jon Stonehouse, chief executive officer of BioCryst.
“The home-grown pipeline of oral compounds for multiple rare diseases that the discovery team at BioCryst has produced is extraordinary. I am excited to join the team at a transformational time for BioCryst as the company becomes commercial and continues to discover and develop innovative medicines that improve patients’ lives,” Thackray said.
Dr. Thackray holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences from Stanford University, and an M.D. from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She completed her pediatric residency and chief residency at Children’s National Medical Center, trained in medical genetics at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP).
About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals discovers novel, oral, small-molecule medicines that treat rare diseases in which significant unmet medical needs exist and an enzyme plays a key role in the biological pathway of the disease. Oral, once-daily ORLADEYO™ (berotralstat) is approved in the United States and Japan for the prevention of HAE attacks in adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older, and under regulatory review for approval in the European Union and United Kingdom. BioCryst has several ongoing development programs including BCX9930, an oral Factor D inhibitor for the treatment of complement-mediated diseases, BCX9250, an ALK-2 inhibitor for the treatment of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, and galidesivir, a potential treatment for Marburg virus disease and Yellow Fever. RAPIVAB® (peramivir injection), a viral neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of influenza, has received regulatory approval in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. Post-marketing commitments for RAPIVAB are ongoing. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.biocryst.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding BioCryst’s future results, performance or achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could affect the forward-looking statements contained herein include: the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which could create challenges in all aspects of BioCryst’s business, including without limitation delays, stoppages, difficulties and increased expenses with respect to BioCryst’s and its partners’ development, regulatory processes and supply chains, negatively impact BioCryst’s ability to access the capital or credit markets to finance its operations, or have the effect of heightening many of the risks described below or in the documents BioCryst periodically files with the Securities and Exchange Commission; BioCryst’s ability to successfully implement its commercialization plans for, and to commercialize, ORLADEYO, which could take longer or be more expensive than planned; ongoing and future preclinical and clinical development of BCX9930, BCX9250, and galidesivir may not have positive results; BioCryst may not be able to enroll the required number of subjects in planned clinical trials of product candidates; BioCryst may not advance human clinical trials with product candidates as expected; the FDA, EMA, MHRA, PMDA or other applicable regulatory agency may require additional studies beyond the studies planned for products and product candidates, may not provide regulatory clearances which may result in delay of planned clinical trials, may impose certain restrictions, warnings, or other requirements on products and product candidates, may impose a clinical hold with respect to product candidates, or may withhold, delay, or withdraw market approval for products and product candidates; products and product candidates, if approved, may not achieve market acceptance; BioCryst’s ability to successfully manage its growth and compete effectively; risks related to the international expansion of BioCryst’s business; and actual financial results may not be consistent with expectations, including that operating expenses and cash usage may not be within management’s expected ranges. Please refer to the documents BioCryst files periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically BioCryst’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, all of which identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in BioCryst’s forward-looking statements.
BCRXW
Contact:
Investors
John Bluth
+1 919 859 7910
jbluth@biocryst.com
Media
Catherine Collier Kyroulis
+1 917 886 5586
ckyroulis@biocryst.com
