CymaBay Announces the Appointments of Robert Booth

NEWARK, Calif., Dec. 08, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBAY ), today announced the appointment of Robert Booth, Ph.D. and Caroline Loewy to the company’s Board of Directors, effective December 6, 2016.

"I am excited to welcome Dr. Robert Booth and Caroline Loewy to the CymaBay board. A major objective for us in 2016 has been to enrich our board of directors with experienced, respected, and highly accomplished drug development executives as we continue to advance our clinical programs. Robert and Caroline have significant strategic and operational experience in drug development and biotechnology,” said Harold Van Wart, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of CymaBay. “Robert is a veteran of the industry and a superb scientist with wide ranging expertise in many aspects of drug development. Caroline brings years of financial and operational experience with development stage biotechnology companies and a particular focus in supporting the advancement of therapies for rare diseases.”

Dr. Robert Booth is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Virobay, Inc., a drug discovery and development company. He served concurrently as an Operating Partner and Senior Advisor at TPG Biotech. Dr. Booth is also the Executive Chairman and co-founder of Ab Initio Biotherapeutics and of CuraSen Therapeutics. Dr. Booth was appointed to the position of Consulting Professor in the School of Medicine at Stanford University in 2016. From 2002 to 2006, Dr. Booth was the Chief Scientific Officer at Celera Genomics, where he was responsible for leading all discovery and development activities. Dr. Booth conceived and initiated the Btk tyrosine kinase inhibitor program that was licensed to Pharmacyclics and from which Imbruvica was discovered and developed. Dr. Booth served on the board of directors of Pharmacyclics until its acquisition by Abbvie for $21 billion in 2015. Dr. Booth was at Roche from 1989 to 2002, in positions of increasing responsibility and was the Senior Vice President and Business Unit Leader for Roche in Palo Alto, California. Dr. Booth was a member of the Global Research Management Team and a member of the Business Development Committee, which oversaw licensing opportunities for Roche. The biology team for which Dr. Booth was responsible discovered and contributed to the development of Invirase, the first HIV protease inhibitor to be launched. Dr. Booth currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Glialogix, Inc., CuraSen Therapeutics and Ab Initio Biotherapeutics and Virobay, Inc. He has approximately 50 published scientific articles and is an inventor on 9 patents.

Caroline Loewy is a biopharmaceutical and financial executive with over 25 years of experience in the field. She is a Co-Founder and the Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Achieve Life Sciences, as well as a consultant providing strategic advisory services for biopharmaceutical companies. Caroline has previously held the position of Chief Financial Officer of both public and private biopharmaceutical companies Tobira Therapeutics, Corcept Therapeutics, and Poniard Pharmaceuticals. Prior to her roles in company management, Caroline spent 11 years as a senior biotechnology equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley and Prudential Securities. Caroline has leveraged her experience in the medical arena and financial expertise to benefit those affected by rare disease. She is a founding board member of the Global Genes Project, one of the leading rare disease patient advocacy organizations in the world, and is a member of the National Advisory Council of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) Center for Rare Childhood Disorders. Caroline is also a founding board member of the KCNQ2 Cure Alliance, promoting education and research into the rare disorder affecting her son.

About CymaBay

CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (CBAY) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies to treat diseases with high unmet medical need, including serious rare and orphan disorders. Seladelpar is a potent, selective, orally active PPARδ agonist. CymaBay has recently completed a Phase 2 study of seladelpar in patients with primary biliary cholangitis as well as a pilot Phase 2 study in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, establishing proof-of-concept in both indications. Previously, a Phase 2 study of seladelpar in patients with mixed dyslipidemia established that it has an anti-atherogenic lipid profile. Arhalofenate, CymaBay’s other product candidate, is a potential Urate-Lowering Anti-Flare Therapy that has completed five Phase 2 studies in gout patients. Arhalofenate has been found to reduce painful flares in joints while at the same time promoting excretion of uric acid by the kidney. This dual action addresses both the signs and symptoms of gout while managing the underlying pathophysiology of hyperuricemia.

For additional information about CymaBay visit www.cymabay.com .

Contacts: Sujal Shah CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (510) 293-8800 sshah@cymabay.com or Hans Vitzthum LifeSci Advisors, LLC 212-915-2568 Hans@LifeSciAdvisors.com