Chase Pharma Taps Former Allergan Exec as CEO

Chase Pharmaceuticals Appoints Former Allergan President Douglas S. Ingram as Chief Executive Officer

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Chase Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Chase), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of improved treatments for neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, announced today that Douglas S. Ingram has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Ingram replaces John Siebert, who will continue as a senior advisor to the company. Chase has three compounds in clinical development: CPC-201, nearing the end of its Phase 2 trial and CPC-212 and CPC-250, both of which have successfully completed Phase 1 development. These compounds are next-generation Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor (AChEI) formulations for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Mr. Ingram brings nearly 20 years of biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device leadership to Chase. Most recently, and until its acquisition by Actavis in the first quarter of this year, he was President of Allergan, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company with franchises in Neurosciences, Urology, Ophthalmology and Medical Aesthetics. Previously, Mr. Ingram was President of Allergan’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; earlier at Allergan was responsible for building and leading numerous aspects of the global organization including Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance, Legal Affairs, Information Technology, Public Relations and External Communication, Human Resources, Audit and Compliance.

“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the greatest unmet medical needs in the US, Japan, Europe and China. Chase offers an exciting and promising opportunity to significantly reduce the burden of this horrible disease,” said Greg Parekh, PhD, Chairman of Chase Pharmaceuticals, investment partner at New Rhein Healthcare and former head of M&A at Novartis AG. “Doug has a proven track record of disruptive approaches, building strong teams and delivering above-market performance. With his track record, diverse background and commitment to excellence, I am confident that Doug will successfully develop Chase to its fullest potential. I would also like to thank John for helping bring Chase to where it is today and am pleased he will continue to support us in an advisory capacity.”

“I am privileged to lead Chase Pharmaceuticals as we execute an elegant approach to the development of new Alzheimer’s treatments, one that offers to profoundly improve the treatment of this serious disease,” said Mr. Ingram. “There have been scant improvements in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in the last two decades, leaving patients and their physicians with few treatment choices and little hope. CPC-201 offers the possibility of significantly improving the performance of the gold-standard treatment of Alzheimer’s disease while reducing many of the development risks associated with past R&D approaches. Our goal is to build a strong CNS biopharmaceutical company to improve the lives of the millions of patients and their families burdened by this devastating disease. We have an important mission and I am excited to play a leadership role in this journey.”

About Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s, a neurodegenerative disease that profoundly impacts the lives of sufferers and their families, has become a major healthcare crisis in the United States and much of the world. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1 in 9 older Americans – representing over 5 million patients – has Alzheimer's disease and its prevalence is only increasing, with a new patient diagnosed approximately every 1 minute in the US. Patients are robbed of their quality of life and cognition, and the cost to the US healthcare system and the economy is enormous, calculated in the hundreds of billions of dollars today. While attention and research continues into Alzheimer's disease, new treatment improvements for the patients have been few and its symptomatic treatment remains one of the most underserved medical needs in healthcare.

About Chase

Chase Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of improved treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. Chase’s development programs, if successful, will profoundly improve the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Chase’s lead candidate, CPC-201, is a patent-protected, fixed-dose combination of one of the few pharmaceuticals proven to improve cognition and behavioral symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease, donepezil (an AChEI), paired with a complementary peripherally acting cholinergic blocker. Chase hypothesizes that CPC-201 will improve tolerability by reducing major dose-limiting side effects of donepezil, allowing significant increases in dosing and resulting in greatly improved efficacy. In addition, this approach eliminates or reduces a number of the risks inherent in CNS research and development by improving the efficacy of the current standard-of-care treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and employing known drug candidates with established mechanisms of action, proven clinical value and known safety profiles.

Chase has successfully completed four Phase 1 studies on CPC-201, CPC-212 and CPC-250. The company is currently completing its Phase 2 trial of CPC-201 in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. The Phase 2 program will establish whether the CPC-201 combination enables significant escalation of donepezil dosing while managing dose-limiting side effects. The CPC-201 Phase 2 trial will be completed and data available in the first half of 2016. Assuming the dose escalation hypothesis is established, Chase’s goal is to commence its Phase 3 registration study for CPC-201 in 2016.

Chase Pharmaceuticals is led by industry veterans who have an extensive track record in developing and successfully launching life-changing medicines.

Douglas S. Ingram, CEO, played an instrumental role in building Allergan into a first-in-class global multi-specialty biopharmaceutical company until its acquisition by Actavis in a transaction valued at $72 billion.

Kathleen Clarence-Smith, MD, PhD, co-founder of Chase Pharmaceuticals and Chief Medical Officer, is a world leader in the development of pharmaceuticals to treat neurodegenerative disorders. As the head of CNS development at Sanofi, Hoffmann-La Roche and Otsuka, Dr. Clarence-Smith has successfully developed, secured approval for and supported the launch of numerous important neurological treatments, including Abilify® (aripiprazole), a $7 billion peak-year sales pharmaceutical used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Thomas Chase, MD, co-founder and former CEO of Chase Pharmaceuticals and Chief Scientific Officer, is a globally recognized thought-leader in neurodegenerative disorders and their treatment with a focus on the pathogenesis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. Dr. Chase is the former Scientific Director and head of the Experimental Therapeutics Branch for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Greg Parekh, PhD, Chairman of Chase Pharmaceuticals, is founder of New Rhein Healthcare, former Chief Executive Officer of Biocartis, and previously head of M&A at Novartis AG. Dr. Parekh chairs a strong board of pharmaceutical professionals that oversees Chase.

Chase is also guided by a Scientific Advisory Board of globally recognized Alzheimer's disease thought leaders.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future financial results, events, operations, services, product development and potential, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "plans" and similar expressions. Although Chase’s management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Chase, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA or the EMA, regarding whether and when to approve any drug, device or biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well as their decisions regarding labelling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates, the absence of guarantee that the product candidates if approved will be commercially successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives, Chase’s ability to benefit from external growth opportunities, the impact of cost containment policies and subsequent changes thereto, Other than as required by applicable law, Chase does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.

Contact:
Chase Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Media Contact:
Debra Catz Bannister, 530-676-7373
debracb77@gmail.com
or
Corporate Contact:
Douglas S. Ingram, 202-792-4621
cpcinfo@chasepharmaceuticals.com

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