Marinus Pharmaceuticals Bolsters Its Board Of Directors And Executive Management

NEW HAVEN, CT--(Marketwired - January 09, 2014) -

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative neuropsychiatric therapeutics, today announced the election of two life science veterans, Enrique J. Carrazana, M.D. and Jay P. Shepard, to its board of directors and the appointment of Edward F. Smith to serve as Chief Financial Officer.

“We are delighted to have Enrique, Jay and Ed join Marinus at such a pivotal point for our company,” commented Christopher M. Cashman, Chairman, President and CEO of Marinus Pharmaceuticals. “Each of them brings a wealth of experiences and complimentary skill sets that will be invaluable as we advance ganaxolone clinical trials in epilepsy, complete ongoing proof-of-concept trials in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and behaviors in Fragile X Syndrome and look to execute on alternatives for unlocking the value of our neuropsychiatric franchise.”

Enrique J. Carrazana, M.D. is a board-certified neurologist with more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and clinical practice. Dr. Carrazana is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, presently serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Acorda Therapeutics, previously served in medical leadership roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and was a practicing neurologist, where he was principal investigator for numerous clinical trials in the areas of epilepsy, neurodegenerative disorders and neuropathic pain.

Jay P. Shepard has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and drug delivery arenas. He is presently an executive partner at Sofinnova Ventures and previously served as President and CEO of NextWave Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Pfizer, Inc. and as President and CEO of Ilypsa, Inc. until its acquisition by Amgen, Inc. Prior to that Mr. Shepard held positions of increasing responsibilities in sales, marketing and commercialization roles at Telik, Inc., ALZA Pharmaceuticals, Ortho Pharmaceutical and Syntax Laboratories.

Edward F. Smith has over 20 years of combined biopharmaceutical, operations and financial management experience. He was previously Chief Financial Officer of PolyMedix, Inc. and held positions of increasing responsibility at InKine Pharmaceutical, until its acquisition by Salix Pharmaceuticals, and in public accounting, most recently in the audit practice at Deloitte.

About Marinus Pharmaceuticals
Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative neuropsychiatric therapeutics. The Company’s clinical stage drug candidate, ganaxolone, is a novel synthetic small molecule that was designed to interact with the same allosteric neuroreceptor target as allopregnanolone, which is known for its antianxiety and anticonvulsive effects, without steroidal side-effects. Ganaxolone is presently being studied in a multinational, randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 2B clinical trial in adult subjects for adjunctive treatment of partial onset seizures and in two Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trials evaluating ganaxolone in each Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and in behavioral symptoms in pediatric subjects with Fragile X Syndrome, the most common cause of inherited mental impairment. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.marinuspharma.com.