Kastle Therapeutics Announces Key Additions to Commercial Leadership

CHICAGO, Sept. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Kastle Therapeutics (Kastle), a biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing, and commercializing pharmaceuticals for diseases with high unmet medical needs, announced today that it has appointed 3 executives to key commercial operating positions.

Sean McAuliffe has been named Vice President, Commercial; Sean was previously Global Marketing Director for Baxalta. Nick Smith has been appointed as Director, Commercial Strategy and Analytics; Nick was previously Director, Forecasting and Commercial Assessment for Lundbeck. Tony Smolcich has been named Director, Business Operations; Tony was previously Commercial IT Lead for Durata Therapeutics.

"Kastle is building a very strong team which positions us extremely well to build a leading therapeutics company," said Bryan Stuart, President of Kastle. Stuart went on to say that "the caliber of these executives will not only facilitate the identification and integration of assets into Kastle but they also will lead major functions in our ongoing commercial operations."

Sean McAuliffe is a life science industry professional with more than 15 years of US and global experience in start-up, mid-sized, and large pharmaceutical and biopharma companies.  In addition to his commercial responsibilities at Baxalta, Sean was the Commercial Alliance Manager for the alliance between Baxalta and Halozyme, Inc. Prior to Baxalta, Sean held multiple leadership roles within sales, marketing, and alliance management at Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, G.D. Searle, and Merck & Company.

Nick Smith is a biopharmaceutical industry professional with a broad range of experience in finance, sales and marketing, commercial assessment, and forecasting. Nick previously led the commercial assessment of numerous acquisition and partnering opportunities from a broad range of therapeutic areas. Nick has also led the forecasting of a diverse set of marketed products from niche orphan products through broad market retail products.  

Tony Smolcich joins Kastle from successful management roles at Durata Therapeutics (sold to Allergan), Sagepath Medical, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, the latter of which he spent over 13 years helping to build the organization from its infancy.

"Kastle's business model is built on a platform of market and clinical insights fueled by committed capital that supports the advancement of important medicines for the patients who need them. The addition of these executives represents a significant achievement for the organization," said Alan MacKenzie, Kastle's Executive Chairman.

All of the appointments are effective immediately.

About Kastle Therapeutics
Kastle Therapeutics (Kastle) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing pharmaceuticals for diseases with high unmet medical needs. Kastle is backed by Flexpoint Ford and has an initial acquisition capacity in excess of $250 million to acquire approved and development-stage therapeutics. The company is headquartered in Chicago.  For more information, please visit www.kastletherapeutics.com.

About Flexpoint Ford
With offices in Chicago and New York, Flexpoint Ford is a private equity investment firm with over $2 billion under management, specializing in privately negotiated investments in the healthcare and financial services industries.  Since the firm's formation in 2005, Flexpoint Ford has invested in more than 25 companies across a broad range of sizes, structures and asset classes.  For more information, please visit www.flexpointford.com.

For more information, contact:

Amber Meairs
Integrated Marketing Solutions
[email protected]
(312) 242-4723          

SOURCE Kastle Therapeutics