Lexaria Welcomes Industry Veteran as New CEO
Outgoing CEO, Chris Bunka, to remain on as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Strategic Advisor
KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 5, 2024 / Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ:LEXX)(NASDAQ:LEXXW) (the “Company” or “Lexaria”), a global innovator in drug delivery platforms announces that Chris Bunka, Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of the Company, is stepping aside for the appointment of Richard Christopher as the new CEO, effective August 31, 2024.
Mr. Christopher is a well-regarded industry veteran with more than three decades of experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries, with domestic and international experience in leadership, operations, acquisitions/licensing, business development, strategic planning and capital markets. His career includes an extremely successful tenure with DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was part of team that led a start-up from its operational infancy, through commercialization and profitability and to its eventual sale to Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.
“I’m delighted that I have been appointed to lead Lexaria,” said Richard Christopher, incoming CEO. “The Company is well positioned for an exciting period of growth centered around the advancement and improvement of drug delivery in the GLP-1 marketplace. We are preparing for an active and collaborative new era for Lexaria in the pharmaceutical industry.”
“I will be working with Chris Bunka to make this transition as seamless as possible. On behalf of the Company, I want to thank him for the tremendous contributions he has made to Lexaria over the last 16 years. I’m pleased that Lexaria will continue to benefit from Chris’ experience and leadership in his continued role as Chairman of the BOD, as well as in his new advisory role,” concluded Richard.
Mr. Bunka has been appointed as Executive Strategic Advisor to the management team where he will continue to provide support and advice to Lexaria. He also remains as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lexaria and looks forward to providing more focused strategic leadership in that role.
“It has been my greatest honour to serve Lexaria’s shareholders in our mutual pursuit of success,” said Chris Bunka, outgoing CEO. “Thank you for allowing me to lead the Lexaria community through adversity, change and multiple pivots over the years. Now that DehydraTECH is maturing, it is the right time to ‘pass the torch’ to a talented individual better suited to our new focus of pharmaceutical industry collaboration and operations. I have 100% confidence that Rich is the right person to lead us going forward.”
Under development by Lexaria since 2015, DehydraTECH™ provides superior delivery kinetics to many drugs, allowing them to work more effectively within the human body. After years of animal and human studies across multiple categories of drugs, Lexaria has finally determined that concentrating on cardio-metabolic, diabetes, weight loss and hypertension are the worthiest sectors in which to commercialize this exciting technology.
Lexaria’s recent entrance into a Material Transfer Agreement with a pharmaceutical company is the perfect embodiment of our vision for the future of the Company as we look to leverage the DehydraTECH™ technology in ways which could be positively transformative to human health.
Most recently, Mr. Christopher was the Chief Financial Officer at InVivo Therapeutics, a research and clinical-stage biomaterials and biotechnology company with a focus on the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Prior to joining InVivo, Mr. Christopher was the Chief Financial Officer of iCAD, Inc., a company with a focus on therapies and solutions for the early identification and treatment of cancer, where he held both financial and operational responsibilities. Before joining iCAD, Mr. Christopher was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Caliber Imaging & Diagnostics, Inc., a medical technology company focused on cancer detection imaging solutions, with primary applications in dermatology. Preceding Caliber, Mr. Christopher held various positions of increasing responsibility at DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a dermatology company focused on the treatment of precancerous skin lesions. He was with DUSA for a period of 12.5 years, where he ultimately served as Chief Financial Officer for 8.5 years before the company’s acquisition and integration into Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. Mr. Christopher holds a Master of Science in Accounting from Suffolk University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Bentley University.
100-Day Plan
During the next 100 days Lexaria is focused on:
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execution of the Material Transfer Agreement plans with a recently announced pharmaceutical company
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execution of our several ongoing GLP-1 research studies
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completion of conceptual design of new independent GLP-1 research studies (TBD)
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preparing for the planned 2025 launch of our FDA-cleared Phase 1b hypertension study
About Lexaria Bioscience Corp. & DehydraTECH
DehydraTECH™ is Lexaria’s patented drug delivery formulation and processing platform technology which improves the way active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) enter the bloodstream through oral delivery. Since 2016, Lexaria has developed and investigated DehydraTECH with a variety of beneficial molecules in oral and topical formats. DehydraTECH has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to increase bio-absorption and has also evidenced an ability to deliver some drugs more effectively across the blood brain barrier, which Lexaria believes to be of particular importance for centrally active compounds. Lexaria operates a licensed in-house research laboratory and holds a robust intellectual property portfolio with 46 patents granted and many patents pending worldwide. For more information, please visit www.lexariabioscience.com.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes forward-looking statements. Statements as such term is defined under applicable securities laws. These statements may be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “if,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “will,” and other similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements by the company relating the Company’s ability to carry out research initiatives, receive regulatory approvals or grants or experience positive effects or results from any research or study. Such forward-looking statements are estimates reflecting the Company’s best judgment based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that the Company will actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements. As such, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the Company include, but are not limited to, government regulation and regulatory approvals, managing and maintaining growth, the effect of adverse publicity, litigation, competition, scientific discovery, the patent application and approval process, potential adverse effects arising from the testing or use of products utilizing the DehydraTECH technology, the Company’s ability to maintain existing collaborations and realize the benefits thereof, delays or cancellations of planned R&D that could occur related to pandemics or for other reasons, and other factors which may be identified from time to time in the Company’s public announcements and periodic filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR. The Company provides links to third-party websites only as a courtesy to readers and disclaims any responsibility for the thoroughness, accuracy or timeliness of information at third-party websites. There is no assurance that any of Lexaria’s postulated uses, benefits, or advantages for the patented and patent-pending technology will in fact be realized in any manner or in any part. No statement herein has been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Lexaria-associated products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Any forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or links to third-party websites contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.
INVESTOR CONTACT:
George Jurcic – Head of Investor Relations
ir@lexariabioscience.com
Phone: 250-765-6424, ext 202
SOURCE: Lexaria Bioscience Corp.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
