CuraSen Therapeutics Expands Management Team; Appoints Peter Butera as Senior Vice President, Operations

SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CuraSen Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases, has appointed Peter Butera as senior vice president, operations. Mr. Butera brings more than 30 years of diverse clinical and operations experience to his position. CuraSen is developing small molecule drugs targeting a novel mechanism in the brain to treat patients who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases, including several orphan disorders as well as Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.

"Peter's expertise in clinical development and operations will be increasingly important to CuraSen's success as we rapidly expand our clinical development program, which focuses on restoration of lost neurologic function through targeted receptor activation in the brain," said Anthony Ford, PhD, chief executive officer, CuraSen. "We are fortunate to be working with Peter again, following our experience at Afferent in advancing gefapixant, a P2X3 inhibitor, to Phase 3 readiness in chronic cough."

"I am excited to be working with this team again, as CuraSen's novel approach to treating neurodegeneration holds real promise," said Mr. Butera. "I look forward to ensuring that our clinical trials advance effectively and quickly in order to bring these novel treatments to patients greatly in need."

Mr. Butera's biopharmaceutical experience ranges from CROs and large pharma to several start-up companies. Before joining CuraSen, Mr. Butera was vice president of clinical operations at Attenua, where he ran the bradanicline program in chronic cough through Phase 2. Previously, he was vice president, clinical operations at Afferent, where he directed clinical operations for programs in chronic pain and cough, until the company's $1.25 billion acquisition by Merck & Co. in 2016. Earlier, Mr. Butera spent ten years at Pain Therapeutics serving as director and vice president, clinical operations. In this role, he managed clinical development programs for chronic pain compounds in both early and late stage development. Mr. Butera has a bachelor's of science degree from Saint Joseph's University.

CuraSen's drugs are designed to activate certain receptor populations in the brain to compensate for critical neuronal and glial functions that have otherwise been lost due to degeneration. The company is currently conducting several Phase 1 clinical trials in signal-seeking studies and expects to advance its first new chemical entity (NCE) to the clinic in 2020.

About CuraSen

CuraSen Therapeutics, Inc. is developing drugs targeting a novel mechanism in the brain to restore function, improve symptoms and modify disease in a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including orphan disorders as well as Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.

CuraSen was co-founded by Mehrdad Shamloo, PhD, professor of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Robert Booth, PhD, former chief executive officer of ViroBay, along with Anthony Ford, PhD, chief executive officer, CuraSen and Ms. Kathleen Sereda Glaub, executive chair, CuraSen. The company completed a $54.5 million Series A financing in 2018, which included New Leaf Venture Partners, Longitude Capital, funds managed by Tekla Capital Management LLC, Alta Partners, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), and Pappas Capital.

For more information, visit www.curasen.com.

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SOURCE CuraSen Therapeutics, Inc.