Milestone Pharmaceuticals Appoints Chief Medical Officer

MONTREAL, July 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc., a cardiovascular drug development company, today announced the appointment of Francis Plat, MD, FAHA, as Chief Medical Officer of the Company. Dr. Plat is a board-certified cardiologist with extensive experience in cardiovascular drug development. Most recently, Dr. Plat was Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head, Atherosclerosis and Cardiovascular at Merck Research Laboratories.

Dr. Plat is highly regarded for his 25 years of international clinical research experience in the cardiovascular area having worked within a number of global pharmaceutical companies including Merck Research Laboratories, Daiichi-Sankyo, Novartis, and Bristol Myers Squibb. He has been involved in the development, filing and repositioning of numerous cardiovascular compounds (Zontivity, Brinavess, Effient, Azor, Diovan, Tareg, Approvel, Avalide and edoxaban). He contributed to several landmark cardiovascular clinical trials such as VALUE, VALIANT, TRITON-TIMI 38, and ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48.

"I am highly enthused to join Milestone in its development of MSP-2017, a promising product candidate, to alleviate acute episodes of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT)," said Dr. Plat. "MSP-2017 is a nasal self-administered treatment-in-the-pocket that will provide a paradigm shift in PSVT treatment by allowing patients to get back to normal life within minutes after the resolution of an episode without the need to go to an emergency room to receive an injectable treatment."

"I am excited to welcome Dr. Plat to our team. Dr. Plat's appointment as Milestone's Chief Medical Officer comes at a critical juncture for the Company as we prepare for our Phase 2 trials," said Philippe Douville, Chief Executive Officer of Milestone Pharmaceuticals. "Dr. Plat is the perfect candidate for our development program given his extensive cardiovascular drug development expertise developed during his career in large pharmaceutical companies.

"I look forward to working closely with Dr. Plat as we move forward in our phase 2 strategy.  His wealth of CV Development leadership experience will bring great value to Milestone Pharmaceuticals." commented Dr. Philip Sager, FACC, FAHA, Chief Medical Advisor at Milestone Pharmaceuticals.

About Milestone Pharmaceuticals
Milestone is a drug development company developing novel small molecule therapeutics based on clinically validated mechanisms for cardiovascular diseases. Milestone's lead product is a novel and potent short-acting calcium channel antagonist for the systemic treatment of transient cardiovascular conditions such as supra ventricular arrhythmias. The Company has assembled a world-class scientific advisory board of key opinion leaders with significant cardiovascular expertise in cardiology, regulatory affairs, and drug development. For more information, please visit www.milestonepharma.com

SOURCE Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc.