Urovant Sciences Appoints Sef Kurstjens and Pierre Legault to its Board of Directors

News provided by

Jul 10, 2018, 07:00 ET

BASEL, Switzerland and IRVINE, Calif., July 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Urovant Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for urologic conditions, today announced the appointments of Sef Kurstjens, M.D., Ph.D. and Pierre Legault to its board of directors.

"I am excited that Sef Kurstjens and Pierre Legault have agreed to join the Urovant board," said Keith Katkin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Urovant. "Both Sef and Pierre are accomplished executives with significant experience in the biopharmaceutical industry."

"I am also pleased by the addition of Sef and Pierre to our board," said Mayukh Sukhatme, President of Roivant Pharma and the incoming chairman of the Urovant board of directors. "We believe there are big things ahead for Urovant and we look forward to benefiting from Sef's and Pierre's expertise and counsel as we grow to meet the unmet medical needs of urology patients."

Dr. Kurstjens and Mr. Legault join Keith Katkin, Mayukh Sukhatme, M.D. and Matthew Gline on the Urovant board of directors.

Dr. Kurstjens has over 27 years of biotech and pharmaceutical drug development experience, having most recently served as Chief Medical Officer at Astellas Pharma Inc. from 2013 to 2018. Dr. Kurstjens had responsibility for Astellas' Development, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance and Quality Assurance divisions, and was a member of the Corporate Executive Committee. Dr. Kurstjens also served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Agensys, Inc., an affiliate of Astellas, from 2010 to 2013.

Prior to joining Astellas, Dr. Kurstjens served as Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Drug Development at Allergan plc from 2007 to 2013, where he led all Global Drug Development, Clinical Operations, and Drug Safety for the Urology, Neurology, Ophthalmology and Dermatology global therapeutic areas. Dr. Kurstjens received his training in medicine and physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"I am delighted to join the board of a company focused on meeting the needs of urology patients and I look forward to working with Keith and the rest of Urovant's highly experienced management team," said Dr. Kurstjens.

Mr. Legault has over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He currently serves as the Chairman of the board of directors for both Artios Pharma Limited and Poxel SA, as well as a member of the board of directors of Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Clementia Pharmaceutical Inc. Mr. Legault's previous roles include serving as Chief Executive Officer of Prosidion Ltd., a subsidiary of Astellas, Chief Financial Officer of OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and various global positions, including President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer at several legacy companies of the Sanofi-Aventis group. Mr. Legault has also served on the board of directors of several other healthcare companies, including Regado Biosciences, Inc. and ARMO Biosciences, Inc. He earned his B.B.A. from HEC Montreal and his M.B.A. from McGill University.

"I am very excited to join the Urovant board of directors," said Mr. Legault. "Having devoted most of my career to the development and commercialization of therapies in multiple disease areas, I look forward to leveraging my experience to support Urovant as it develops innovative urological drugs."

About Urovant Sciences

Urovant is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for urologic conditions. Urovant's product candidate, vibegron, is an oral, once-daily, small molecule that, based on in vitro data, is a potent and highly selective beta-3 agonist. Vibegron is currently being evaluated in a large, international pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of overactive bladder ("OAB"). Vibegron is also being evaluated for two additional potential indications, treatment of OAB in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia and the treatment of pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Urovant's plans to advance the clinical development of vibegron. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with: the success, cost and timing of Urovant's product development activities, including the timing of the initiation and completion of clinical trials and the timing of expected regulatory filings; the clinical utility and potential attributes and benefits of vibegron, including reliance on collaboration partners and the ability to procure additional sources of financing; and our intellectual property position including the ability to identify and in-license or acquire third-party patents and licenses, and associated costs. Vibegron is investigational and has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any comparable federal agency in any other jurisdiction.

These forward-looking statements are based on information available to Urovant as of the date of this press release and speak only as of the date of this release. Urovant disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.