SOUTH SAN FRANICSCO, Calif., Oct. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/
-- Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RIGL) today announced the
appointment of two company veterans to leadership roles that will
impact Rigel's newly refocused small molecule R&D effort
targeting immunology and oncology diseases. Esteban Masuda, Ph.D., who has made significant
contributions to Rigel's research programs for 18 years, has been
named Senior Vice President, Research. Joseph Lasaga, who formerly held roles in both
research and business development at Rigel, rejoins the company as
Vice President, Business Development and Alliance Management.
"We are very fortunate to have the experience and talent of
these two professionals moving Rigel's pipeline and partnership
efforts forward," said Raul
Rodriguez, CEO of Rigel. "We are confident that
Esteban and Joe will help Rigel realize the full potential of our
drug discovery strengths, and to advance selected programs to build
our pipeline."
The company recently restructured its research area to focus on
immunology and oncology, with a team that maintains the full
complement of capabilities necessary for productive drug discovery.
From this effort, Rigel expects to file an investigational new drug
application (IND) with the FDA for its first IRAK inhibitor in
2017. IRAKs are key components in the signal transduction pathways
associated with inflammation. Rigel has identified IRAK1/4
inhibitors that are potent regulators of the inflammatory signal
mediated by the Toll-like receptors and Interleukin-1 family of
cytokines. Rigel's IRAK1/4 inhibitors may be valuable therapeutic
tools to treat cytokine-driven autoimmune and inflammatory diseases
such as gout or lupus, as well as various hematological
malignancies.
Esteban S. Masuda, Ph.D.
Dr. Masuda most recently held the title of Senior Vice President,
Immunology at Rigel. He has worked on and led numerous drug
discovery projects in inflammatory and allergic diseases, and
served as the first project leader for fostamatinib, which led to
the discovery of that compound. His work has resulted in
moving several product candidates into clinical development;
various corporate partnerships; 57 publications; and 49 U.S. issued
patents. Prior to joining Rigel, Dr. Masuda spent seven years at
DNAX Research Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology in
cytokine biology. He received a B.S. in biochemistry from
University of California, Riverside and
a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Hiroshima University, Japan.
Joseph Lasaga
Mr. Lasaga returns to Rigel from his role as Vice President,
Business Development and Alliance Management at Galena Biopharma,
Inc., where he was responsible for managing corporate and business
development strategy and activities. From 2010 until 2014,
Mr. Lasaga was Director, and later named Senior Director, Business
Development at Nektar Therapeutics, where he led licensing
activities, managed key alliances and structured research
collaborations. He began his career at Rigel working in
research before moving into business development, most recently as
Associate Director. In that role, he served as the alliance
manager for all of Rigel's partners, was an integral member of the
negotiating team for Rigel's out-licensing of fostamatinib to
AstraZeneca in 2010, and managed all other aspects of business
development. Mr. Lasaga graduated from San
Jose State University with a B.S. in Molecular Biology and
earned his M.B.A. in Marketing from San
Francisco State University.
About Rigel (www.rigel.com)
Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology
company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel,
targeted drugs in the therapeutic areas of immunology, oncology and
immuno-oncology. Rigel's pioneering research focuses on signaling
pathways that are critical to disease mechanisms. The company's
current clinical programs include fostamatinib, an oral spleen
tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor, which is in Phase 3 clinical
trials for immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Rigel reported data
from the first of two Phase 3 trials in August 2016; the second Phase 3 trial results are
expected in late October or early November
2016. The investigation of fostamatinib also includes a
Phase 2 clinical trial for autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and a
Phase 2 clinical trial for IgA nephropathy (IgAN). In
addition, Rigel has two oncology product candidates in Phase 1
development with partners BerGenBio AS and Daiichi
Sankyo.
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements,
including, without limitation, statements related to Rigel's plans
and expected timing regarding its small molecule program targeting
IRAK inhibition, Rigel's plans to become a commercial organization,
and Rigel's clinical development plans. Any statements contained in
this press release that are not statements of historical fact may
be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as
"planned," "will," "may," "expect," and similar expressions are
intended to identify these forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are based on Rigel's current
expectations and inherently involve significant risks and
uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such forward looking
statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which
include, without limitation, the availability of resources to
develop Rigel's product candidates, Rigel's need for additional
capital in the future to sufficiently fund Rigel's operations and
research, the uncertain timing of completion of and the success of
clinical trials, risks associated with and Rigel's dependence on
Rigel's corporate partnerships, as well as other risks detailed
from time to time in Rigel's reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
for the six months ended June 30,
2016. Rigel does not undertake any obligation to update
forward-looking statements and expressly disclaims any obligation
or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statements contained herein.
Contact: Raul Rodriguez
Phone: 650.624.1302
Email: invrel@rigel.com
Media Contact: Susan C. Rogers,
Rivily, Inc.
Phone: 650.430.3777
Email: susan@rivily.com
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SOURCE Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.