San Diego, California–(Newsfile Corp. – April 1, 2021) – Tryp Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: TRYP) (“Tryp” or the “Company“), a pharmaceutical company focused on developing clinical-stage compounds for diseases with unmet medical needs, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Greg McKee as its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. McKee will also continue in his responsibilities as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company.
Mr. McKee has extensive experience leading publicly traded pharmaceutical companies and brings a vast network of relationships in the life science industry to accelerate Tryp’s drug development activities. Mr. McKee began his life science career at Genzyme where he was responsible for commercializing leading compounds for rare diseases throughout Asia. He then served as Chairman and CEO of Nventa Biopharmaceuticals Corporation and Akela Pharma Inc., both publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies. Most recently, Mr. McKee spent significant time supporting early stage life science and digital health companies as CEO of CONNECT, an early stage incubator, and as Managing Director at Torrent Ventures. He was previously appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tryp in February 2021.
William Garner, M.D., Executive Director of the Company, commented, “Greg has provided exceptional vision and leadership to Tryp since his appointment as Chairman of the Board, and he is ideally suited to lead the Company’s next phase of growth. We are fortunate to have him serve the company in this expanded capacity as Chief Executive Officer.”
The Company’s former CEO, Jim Kuo, will continue to serve as a director on the Company’s board.
“We express our sincere gratitude to Jim Kuo for his service to the Company as a co-founder and CEO,” said Mr. McKee. “I am excited to build on the foundation that he and our team have established at Tryp as we advance our groundbreaking clinical programs in chronic pain, eating disorders, oncology, and other indications. It is an exceptional time to be advancing the science and available therapies using our proprietary psilocybin and other small molecule formulations.”
In connection with his appointment, Mr. McKee has been granted an aggregate of 2,300,000 additional stock options (the “Options“). The Options have an exercise price of $0.68 per share, are exercisable until March 31, 2031 (subject to vesting restrictions) and will be governed in accordance with the terms of the Company’s stock option plan.
About Tryp Therapeutics:
Tryp Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing compounds with known activity and safety profiles for the treatment of rare and other diseases with unmet medical needs. Tryp’s psilocybin-for-neuropsychiatric disorders, or PFN™, program is focused on the development of synthetic psilocybin as a new class of drug for the treatment of certain neuropsychiatric-based disorders. Tryp’s lead PFN™ drug candidate is TRP-8802 for the treatment of fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome estimated to affect more than 5 million people in the United States. The Company is also preparing to initiate a Phase 2a clinical study for eating disorders in partnership with the Dr. Jennifer Miller at the University of Florida.
In addition to its PFN™ Program, Tryp is developing TRP-1001, an oral formulation of razoxane for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma. Soft tissue sarcomas are a rare and diverse group of tumors that account for about 1% of all cancers in adults and 7% in children. Based on the prevalence of soft tissue sarcomas in the United States, Tryp believes it is a rare disease and that TRP-1001 should qualify for Orphan Drug status.
For inquiries, please contact us at:
T: 1-833-811-TRYP (8797)
E: investors@tryptherapeutics.com
W: www.tryptherapeutics.com
Forward-Looking Information
Certain information in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “targets”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “an opportunity exists”, “is positioned”, “estimates”, “intends”, “assumes”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate” or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”, “will” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events.
Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Tryp as of the date of this news release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to the factors described in greater detail in the “Risk Factors” section of Tryp’s final prospectus available at www.sedar.com. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Tryp; however, these factors should be considered carefully. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and Tryp expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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