BOSTON, April 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cerevance, a private, clinical-stage drug discovery and development company focused on central nervous system diseases, today announced the appointment of Craig Thompson to chief executive officer. Mr. Thompson brings over 25 years of commercial and marketing leadership experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries to the company. Brad Margus will transition from CEO to Executive Chairman of the Board at the end of April.
“It’s been a privilege to lead our talented team over the last six years. Together, we have scaled a powerful target discovery platform, assembled a top-tier group of investors and advanced a portfolio of novel therapeutics to clinical proof of concept,” said Mr. Margus. “Now, Craig’s robust track record of executing later-stage clinical development and leading commercialization of pharmaceutical products will ensure that Cerevance succeeds in its next phase of growth. I look forward to supporting the company as Executive Chairman going forward.”
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Cerevance team as CEO,” said Mr. Thompson. “The company is on the cusp of translating exciting new therapeutic targets into potential clinical treatments that hold real promise for millions of people suffering from neurological and psychiatric diseases. The data from our recent CVN-424 Phase 2 clinical study in Parkinson’s disease validates our development platform.”
Mr. Thompson most recently served as President and CEO at Neurana Pharmaceuticals, a private company focused on the treatment of neuromuscular conditions. Prior to Neurana, he served as President and CEO of Anthera Pharmaceuticals, and before that, as chief operating officer of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw the development and implementation of the marketing, access, reimbursement and sales strategy, as well as business development and commercial manufacturing. Prior to Tetraphase, he was chief commercial officer for Trius Therapeutics, which was acquired by Cubist Pharmaceuticals for more than $700 million. Earlier in his career, Mr. Thompson served in various commercial and marketing roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer and Merck. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
About Cerevance
Cerevance is a private pharmaceutical company whose lead program, CVN424, a first-in-class compound acting on a novel target, recently demonstrated significant and meaningful efficacy in a 135-patient phase 2 study in Parkinson’s Disease. The company uses its NETSseq transcriptional and epigenetic profiling platform to examine neuronal and glial cell populations in thousands of human donor brain tissue samples obtained from over 20 brain bank partners around the world. Then, drawing on its comprehensive understanding of the molecular characteristics of specific cell types, Cerevance is advancing a pipeline of therapeutic programs against novel targets that address the selective cellular vulnerability of neurodegenerative disease, reduce neuroinflammation without perturbing the peripheral immune system, and normalize dysfunctional circuits that are at the root of many motor and behavioral disorders.
