CohBar Appoints Philippe P. Calais, Pharm.D., Ph.D. as Interim Chief Executive Officer

MENLO PARK, Calif., Dec. 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CohBar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CWBR), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing mitochondria based therapeutics (MBTs) to treat age-related diseases, announced today that it has appointed Philippe P. Calais, Pharm.D., Ph.D. as its interim Chief Executive Officer, effective December 7, 2018.  Dr. Calais will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors, which he joined in June 2018. CohBar is currently engaged in search activities for a successor CEO, for which Dr. Calais is considered a leading candidate, as well as for an additional independent director to join CohBar’s Board.  

“We are very pleased that Philippe has agreed to contribute his extensive biopharmaceutical leadership experience to our management team at this important time for CohBar,” said Albion J. Fitzgerald, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “We anticipate the coming year will be instrumental to the ongoing development of our lead clinical candidate, CB4211, for the treatment of NASH and obesity, as well as to the advancement of our preclinical pipeline of mitochondria based therapeutics targeting other large-population diseases with underlying metabolic dysfunction. We believe Philippe’s broad range of management experience and extensive therapeutic expertise, spanning all aspects of drug development, financing, partnering and commercialization, make him particularly well-suited to lead the company.”

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Simon Allen for his contributions and leadership during CohBar’s evolution to a clinical stage NASDAQ listed biotechnology company, and for his support through this transition,” Mr. Fitzgerald concluded.

“I joined CohBar’s Board earlier this year with a firm belief in the potential of the company’s discoveries and intellectual property to be developed as mitochondria based therapeutics to improve clinical outcomes for large and growing patient populations suffering from age-related diseases,” commented Dr. Calais. “My tenure as a director has strengthened my belief in the CohBar team’s ability to translate these discoveries into a new class of therapeutics for the potential benefit of patients and shareholders alike.  I look forward to working with the management team to efficiently advance the company’s clinical and preclinical pipeline, while continuing to explore strategic partnership and funding opportunities.”

Dr. Calais brings to the CohBar team more than 30 years of large and small-cap biopharmaceutical experience in product development and commercialization, partnerships, collaborations and financings. He most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Isarna Therapeutics B.V., a developer of oligonucleotide therapeutics, where he led the company through a successful Phase 1 study of  ISTH0036 in advanced glaucoma, and was responsible for a number of strategic licensing, partnering and asset sale transactions during his tenure. Prior to Isarna, Dr. Calais led several clinical stage biopharmaceutical companies in Canada and in Europe, and headed Univalor LTD, a large technology transfer organization focused on commercializing innovations from the University of Montreal. Earlier in his career, he had multiple roles of increasing responsibility over a ten year period at F. Hoffmann-La Roche, ultimately becoming Global Head of its Anti-Infectives, Dermatology and Anti-Fungals Business Unit, with direct responsibility over strategy, marketing, and licensing transactions. Dr. Calais received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and his doctor of pharmacy from the Université François-Rabelais in Tours, France.

Details for Conference Call



Date: December 11, 2018

Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time

• Dial-in U.S. and Canada: (800) 239-9838
• Dial-in International: (323) 794-2551
• Conference ID Number: 1003502

We kindly request that you call into the conference audio approximately 10 minutes before the start time so that we can begin promptly.

An audio replay of the call will be available beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 11, 2018, through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on January 1, 2019. To access the recording please dial (844) 512-2921 in the U.S. and Canada, or (412) 317-6671 internationally, and reference Conference ID# 1003502. The audio replay will also be available at from December 11, 2018, through January 1, 2019.

About CB4211

CohBar’s lead program is based on CB4211, a first-in-class mitochondria based therapeutic (MBT) that has demonstrated significant therapeutic potential in preclinical models of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and obesity. CB4211 is a novel and improved analog of MOTS-c, a naturally occurring mitochondrial-derived peptide (MDP) which was discovered in 2012 by CohBar founder Dr. Pinchas Cohen and his academic collaborators and has been shown to play a significant role in the regulation of metabolism. In July 2018, CB4211 entered a Phase 1a/1b clinical trial which includes a potential activity readout relevant to NASH and obesity. In November 2018, the company announced the temporary suspension of the trial to address mild injection site reactions that were unexpectedly persistent. NASH has been estimated to affect as many as 12% of adults in the U.S., and there is currently no approved treatment for the disease.

About CohBar

CohBar (NASDAQ: CWBR) is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the research and development of mitochondria based therapeutics (MBTs), an emerging class of drugs for the treatment of age-related diseases. MBTs originate from the discovery by CohBar’s founders of a novel group of peptides within the mitochondrial genome which regulate metabolism and cell death, and whose biological activity declines with age. CohBar’s efforts focus on the development of these mitochondrial-derived peptides (MDPs) into clinically relevant MBTs that offer the potential to address a broad range of age-related diseases with underlying metabolic dysfunction, including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. To date, the company and its founders have discovered more than 100 MDPs. For additional company information, please visit .

Forward-Looking Statements 

This news release contains forward-looking statements (statements which are not historical facts) within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the therapeutic potential of mitochondrial-derived peptides for the treatment of age-related diseases and the anticipated contributions of CohBar’s newly appointed interim Chief Executive Officer. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by CohBar. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, our ability to attract and retain key executives and employees, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, such as the possibility of unfavorable study results, including unfavorable new data and additional analyses of existing data; risks associated with initial data, including the risk that results of additional preclinical or clinical studies may be different from (including less favorable than) the earlier data results and may not support further clinical development of CohBar’s therapeutic candidates. Additional risks and uncertainties include CohBar’s ability to expand its research operations and obtain financing necessary to continue its operations and fund its candidate programs. Additional assumptions, risks and uncertainties are described in detail in our registration statements, reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and applicable Canadian securities regulators, which are available on our website, and at  or .

You are cautioned that such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and other information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and CohBar does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Nothing herein shall constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.     

Contacts:

Jon Stern, COO

CohBar, Inc.

(650) 446-7888

 

Joyce Allaire

LifeSci Advisors, LLC