Variant Pharmaceuticals Enhances Its Board of Directors with Three New Members

WESTON, Fla., Oct. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Variant Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical stage orphan drug company developing first-in-class drugs for patients with rare diseases, announced today appointments of three new Board members, Robert (Rob) G. Finizio, Anthony J. Giovinazzo, and Eric I. Richman.

Mr. Finizio, with 20 years of experience, leveraged his expertise in women's healthcare, pharmaceutical technology, clinical software, and patient safety, to co-found TherapeuticsMD (TXMD).  As Chief Executive Officer and Director, he was responsible for raising more than $500 million in capital, and for listing TXMD on the NYSE before transferring to the Nasdaq in 2017 (current market capitalization is over a billion dollars). Mr. Finizio previously co-founded CareFusion (2001), which was successfully sold to Cardinal Health in 2006.  He sits on the Board of Directors for two non-profit organizations, BioFlorida and the Boca Raton Police Foundation.

Mr. Giovinazzo's 38 years of experience encompass biotechnology, investment banking, and private equity. He was formerly President and CEO of Sunovion CNS Development Canada ULC, a successor company to Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc., where he was one of the three original inventors and patent holders of the Cynapsus Parkinson's focused technology. Mr. Giovinazzo was responsible for taking Cynapsus public, from the TSX Venture exchange to the TSX and then the NASDAQ, attracting tier 1 Wall Street investment banks and some of the largest institutional life science investors in the US. The sale of Cynapsus to Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. in late 2016 resulted in a 120% premium to market price. Over his career, Mr. Giovinazzo has raised in excess of $750 million in private and public equity.

Mr. Richman, with more than 25 years of experience as a life science executive, has been instrumental in the growth and success of a number of life science companies.  As a member of the founding team of MedImmune, his responsibilities included commercial launches of rare disease and oncology products, and he served in various roles in strategic planning, business development and international operations. Mr. Richman was previously President & CEO of PharmAthene, Inc., and he is a former Venture Partner at Brace Pharma Capital. He has raised over $1.2 billion of dilutive and non-dilutive capital.  Mr. Richman is currently Chairman of LabConnect and serves on the Boards of ADMA Biologics, and NovelStem International, Corp.  Former Board roles included PharmAthene, Inc., LEV Pharmaceuticals, Tyrogenex, Inc., Siga Technologies, and American Bank.

"We are delighted to welcome Rob, Anthony, and Eric to our Board.  Each brings a breadth of experience in drug development and commercialization, private and public equity fund raising, and brokering deals," said Stephen Glover, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Variant Pharmaceuticals. "We are looking forward to leveraging their expertise, along with that of our other Board members, to advance our drug development programs, and to fulfill our mission to develop best-in-class drugs to optimize health and improve quality of life for patients with rare diseases."

About Variant

Variant Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage orphan drug company focusing on restoring health and transforming the lives of patients with rare diseases, was established in 2014.  Variant's mission is to become a leading orphan drug company.  Our evolving product pipeline is targeted to the $100+ billion orphan drug market. Our lead orphan drug candidate is 2-Hydroxypropyl-Beta-Cyclodextrin (2HPβCD) for chronic treatment of two orphan indications, VAR 200: Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and VAR 300: Alport Syndrome (AS), rare progressive forms of kidney disease.   

SOURCE Variant Pharmaceuticals, Inc.