WOBURN, Mass., Nov. 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Comera Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CMRA), a life sciences company developing a new generation of bio-innovative biologic medicines to improve patient delivery, access, safety and convenience, today announced the appointment of Janice Marie McCourt as Chief Business Officer.
In her role at Comera, Ms. McCourt will be responsible for business development, including evaluation and execution of out-licensing, in-licensing and strategic transaction opportunities, and driving the execution of the Company’s commercial strategy. Ms. McCourt will report to Jeffrey Hackman, Chairman and CEO, and serve on the Company’s executive leadership team, working closely with the other members of the executive leadership team to secure commercial partnership opportunities and advance the Company’s pipeline of drug candidates.
“We are delighted to welcome Janice to our leadership team as our Chief Business Officer at this critical time of accelerated growth,” said Jeffrey Hackman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Comera. “Janice has extensive business development and leadership expertise, a successful track record in corporate deal-making and a deep industry network that further strengthens our executive team as we execute on strategies to build value across our internal and partnered programs. We are well-positioned to help maximize the true potential of life-changing biologics by transforming them from intravenous to subcutaneous forms that patients can administer themselves.”
“Comera’s expertise and commitment to bringing innovative solutions to patients coupled with its exciting growth prospects makes this an exciting time to join their team,” said Janice Marie McCourt, Chief Business Officer of Comera. “I am a pharmacist at heart, and I see the clear value and potential of Comera’s technology to lead a compassionate new era in medicine by transforming blockbuster medications from IV to out-patient subcutaneous patient-administered injection, providing patients and their families with more freedom to fully realize the potential of life-changing therapies.”
Ms. McCourt brings more than 30 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience. Prior to joining Comera, Ms. McCourt was the Chief Business and Corporate Development Officer at Lyvgen Biopharma, a private biotechnology company focused on developing innovative immuno-oncology therapies, where she focused on corporate strategy, business and clinical operations, finance, corporate development, alliance management, negotiation of partnerships, licensing deals and research and development collaborations. Prior to Lyvgen, she led business and corporate development and alliances for Heat Biologics, Edgemont Pharmaceuticals, Agenus, and Amakem Therapeutics.
Ms. McCourt also served as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing for Ingenix, a health care information, technology and research company and a wholly owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. Prior to Ingenix, she was Vice President of Corporate Development and Marketing at ActivBiotics, a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing antibiotics and combination therapies for the treatment of acute and chronic infections. Ms. McCourt’s prior biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience also includes roles in business development, marketing, medical affairs, training, corporate communications, and investor relations at Praecis Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories, and Takeda. She has led or supported the commercial strategy of more than one hundred products that have advanced from clinical development through regulatory approval globally with billions in sales.
Ms. McCourt holds a B.S. in Pharmacy on a full academic scholarship, with a specialization in Industrial Pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and graduated summa cum laude with an MBA from the University of Phoenix in General Management.
Inducement Grant Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)
In connection with Ms. McCourt’s appointment as Chief Business Officer, the Company granted her a non-statutory stock option to purchase 150,000 shares of the Company’s common stock with an exercise price of $1.36 per share, the closing price on November 8, 2022. The stock options have a ten-year term and vest over four years, with one-fourth vesting on November 1, 2023, and the remaining three-fourths vesting in equal monthly installments thereafter, subject to her continued employment on each applicable vesting date.
The grant was made as an inducement that was a material component of Ms. McCourt’s compensation and subsequent acceptance of employment with the Company and was granted as an employment inducement award pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) approved by the Company’s Compensation Committee and Board of Directors.
About Comera Life Sciences
Leading a compassionate new era in medicine, Comera Life Sciences is applying a deep knowledge of formulation science and technology to transform essential biologic medicines from intravenous (IV) to subcutaneous (SQ) forms. The goal of this approach is to provide patients with the freedom of self-injectable care, reduce institutional dependency and to put patients at the center of their treatment regimen.
To learn more about the Comera Life Sciences mission, as well as the proprietary SQore™ platform, visit https://comeralifesciences.
