Press Release:
CYTOCHROMA APPOINTS R. RICHARD WIELAND
II AS CFO
Markham, Ontario, Canada — May 12, 2008 — Cytochroma today
announced that it has appointed R. Richard Wieland II as its
Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mr. Wieland, 63, brings
to Cytochroma nearly 40 years of experience in finance and
financial management, at both public and private companies,
and will be based in Cytochroma’s Illinois office.
“Rich has strong leadership skills, extensive experience
managing finance departments and significant expertise in the
capital markets,” stated Charles W. Bishop, PhD, Cytochroma’s
President and CEO. “He joins Cytochroma at a critical
inflection point in its growth. The Company now has multiple
Vitamin D-based therapies in clinical development and it requires
a seasoned CFO who can play a key role in expanding and evolving
the corporate and financial infrastructure.”
Previous to Cytochroma, Mr. Wieland was Executive
Vice President & CFO
of Advanced Life Sciences where he helped that company list
on the NASDAQ stock market in 2005 and prepared it for Sarbanes-Oxley
implementation. Mr. Wieland also led the successful initial
public offering of MediChem Life Sciences, where he served
as Executive Vice President & CFO. Earlier in his
career, Mr. Wieland held senior level financial and management
positions at BioGenex Laboratories, Cancer Treatment Centers,
Fujisawa USA, LyphoMed and Procter & Gamble. He holds
an MBA from Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree
in Accounting and Finance from Monmouth College.
“Cytochroma is at an exciting time in its development
and has an outstanding management team in place,” stated
Mr. Wieland. “As CFO, I look forward to working
with this team to build a strong and sustainable specialty
pharmaceutical company.”
Cytochroma has a diverse portfolio of Vitamin
D-based therapeutics designed to treat disorders related to
abnormal or insufficient Vitamin D metabolism in chronic kidney
disease (CKD) patients. These
new products will address target markets that are expected
to grow significantly, reaching more than $1.2 billion annually
by 2010 in North America alone. Cytochroma has three
lead product candidates in development for CKD patients: CTA018
and CTAP201 are being developed for the treatment of secondary
hyperparathyroidism (SHPT), while CTAP101 is being developed
for the treatment of Vitamin D insufficiency.
About Chronic
Kidney Disease
According to the National Kidney Foundation
(NKF), more than nine million North American patients suffer
from moderate CKD (Stages 3 and 4) to severe CKD (Stage 5). Stages
3 and 4 are characterized by progressively decreasing kidney
function as measured by glomerular filtration rate. In Stage
5, kidney function is altogether absent and patients require
regular dialysis or kidney transplant for survival. An estimated
70-90% of CKD patients have Vitamin D insufficiency, which
can lead to SHPT and resultant debilitating bone diseases. Mounting
evidence continues to link Vitamin D insufficiency with CKD
progression and increased morbidity and mortality in CKD patients. CKD
is most frequently caused by diabetes or hypertension, both
of which are consequences of a growing obesity epidemic in
countries worldwide.
About Cytochroma
Cytochroma is a clinical stage
specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and
commercializing proprietary products to treat and prevent the
clinical consequences of Vitamin D insufficiency and SHPT associated
with CKD. The Company’s
Vitamin D-based therapeutics are designed to safely and effectively
treat patients with Stage 3, 4 or 5 CKD. In addition, Cytochroma
is developing novel therapies to treat hyperphosphatemia in
these same patients.
For information
contact:
Eric J. Messner
Vice President, Commercial Operations
Tel: +1 (905) 479-5306 ext. 338
eric.messner@cytochroma.com
Media Inquiries:
Robert Stanislaro
FD
Tel: +1 (212) 850-5657
robert.stanislaro@fd.com
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