Catalyst Biosciences Appoints William J. Dawson Chief Financial Officer

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Catalyst Biosciences, Inc., a pioneer in the discovery and development of engineered proteases known as Alterase™ therapeutics, today announced the appointment of William J. Dawson to the post of Chief Financial Officer.  In this role, Mr. Dawson will be responsible for finance, administration, and business development, reporting to Nassim Usman, Ph.D., Catalyst's Chief Executive Officer.  Mr. Dawson brings more than 30 years of financial management and business development experience to Catalyst.

"I am pleased to welcome Bill to Catalyst," said Dr. Usman.  "His depth of experience in all stages of a corporation's life cycle, in particular with clinical-stage and commercial companies, will be a tremendous asset as Catalyst advances its protease therapeutics into preclinical and clinical studies.  From his prior roles as a CFO and an investment banker, Bill brings a successful track record of creating shareholder value through numerous partnering, initial public offering, structured finance, and M&A transactions that will be relevant to Catalyst going forward."  

"I am excited by the opportunity to join the team at Catalyst," said Mr. Dawson.  "With a productive platform for the discovery of valuable therapeutics, a deep pipeline of novel compounds, and partnerships with two preeminent multi-national pharmaceutical companies, Catalyst has an exceptionally strong balance sheet and is well positioned for future success."  

Previously, Mr. Dawson served from 2004 through 2009 as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Cerus Corporation, a commercial-stage blood safety products company.  From 2002 until 2004, Mr. Dawson was Vice President, Finance & Operations and Chief Financial Officer of Dynavax Technologies Corporation, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.  From 1998 until 2001, Mr. Dawson was Corporate Senior Vice President, Business Development, for McKesson Corporation, a Fortune 15 pharmaceutical distribution and healthcare services company.  He was also acting Chief Financial Officer of iMcKesson, an e-health IT subsidiary of McKesson.  Prior to joining McKesson, Mr. Dawson spent 15 years as a senior officer in corporate finance with three investment banking firms and five years in financial management positions with operating companies in the alternate energy and transportation industries.  Mr. Dawson earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering.  Mr. Dawson serves on the boards of directors of McGrath RentCorp, an equipment finance company, and Wellington Trust Company, a subsidiary of Wellington Management Company LLP, a global private institutional asset management company.

About Catalyst Biosciences 

Catalyst Biosciences is developing the next generation of biopharmaceuticals by harnessing the catalytic power of engineered proteases that target proteins underlying diseases.  Catalyst's discovery platform rapidly creates and optimizes tailor-made protease drug candidates that cleave a wide variety of disease targets, either by improving existing protease drugs or by creating new protease drugs, known as Alterase™ therapeutics.  Catalyst is focusing its product development efforts on drug candidates for hemophilia, non-hemophilic bleeding, and complement-driven diseases, including the prevention of delayed graft function and inflammation.  Catalyst has ongoing research, development, and license agreements with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. and MedImmune, LLC, the global biologics unit of AstraZeneca plc.  Together, these two partnering agreements total up to nearly $700 million in upfront payments, R&D support, and milestone payments, plus royalties on potential future sales.  Catalyst is privately held with backing by leading venture firms, including Burrill & Company, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, HealthCare Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Morgenthaler Ventures, Novartis BioVentures, RCT BioVentures, and Sofinnova Ventures.  For more information, please visit www.catbio.com.

SOURCE Catalyst Biosciences, Inc.