Yumanity Therapeutics Appoints Devin W. Smith as General Counsel
Yumanity Therapeutics (NASDAQ: YMTX) has appointed Devin W. Smith as Senior Vice President and General Counsel, effective immediately. Mr. Smith brings extensive experience from his previous roles at Minerva Neurosciences and Stallergenes Greer. His expertise is expected to be crucial as Yumanity advances its three clinical programs and seeks to expand corporate partnerships. Smith will receive an option to purchase 58,400 shares, vesting over four years. The company focuses on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, with its lead candidate, YTX-7739, currently in Phase 1 trials for Parkinson's disease.
- Appointment of Devin W. Smith as General Counsel is expected to strengthen legal strategy.
- Smith's background in public life science companies will support corporate governance and SEC compliance.
- Concerns about continuity and experience gaps following a leadership change.
BOSTON, June 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yumanity Therapeutics (NASDAQ: YMTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative, disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the appointment of Devin W. Smith as Senior Vice President and General Counsel.
“We are delighted to welcome Devin as our general counsel at Yumanity Therapeutics,” said Richard Peters, M.D., Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Yumanity Therapeutics. “His experience providing legal counsel to public emerging life science companies will be important as we advance three clinical programs, move new innovative assets to treat neurodegenerative diseases into our pipeline, look to expand corporate partnerships, and strengthen our balance sheet.”
Mr. Smith is an attorney highly experienced in providing legal advice to biopharmaceutical companies. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for publicly traded Minerva Neurosciences, where he provided strategic legal advice and was responsible for corporate governance and SEC compliance. Prior to that, Mr. Smith was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the publicly traded immunology company Stallergenes Greer PLC. Before joining Stallergenes Greer, Mr. Smith served as Associate General Counsel and Vice President and General Counsel at EMD Serono, Inc., the U.S.-based biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA. Before serving in the biopharmaceutical industry, Mr. Smith was a partner at the international law firm, Nixon Peabody LLP. Mr. Smith earned his J.D. (cum laude) from Suffolk University Law School and a B.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. He is a member of the Massachusetts and Illinois Bars.
“Yumanity has made outstanding advances since its public debut at the end of 2020,” said Mr. Smith. “I am looking forward to working with the executive team to help achieve the Company’s vision of a future free from neurodegenerative diseases.”
Inducement Equity Award
In connection with Mr. Smith’s acceptance of employment with the company, effective on the first day of Mr. Smith’s employment, Mr. Smith will be granted an option to purchase 58,400 shares of common stock which will vest over four years, with 25 percent of the shares vesting on the first anniversary of Mr. Smith’s new hire date and the remainder vesting in equal monthly installments over the following three years. The options will have an exercise price equal to the closing price of Yumanity Therapeutics’ common stock on the grant date and will have a ten-year term and be subject to the terms and conditions of the Yumanity Therapeutics, Inc. 2021 Inducement Plan and the terms and conditions of a stock option agreement covering the grant.
The options will be granted under the Yumanity Therapeutics, Inc. 2021 Inducement Plan as an inducement material to Mr. Smith entering into employment with Yumanity Therapeutics in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
About Yumanity Therapeutics
Yumanity Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to accelerating the revolution in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases through its scientific foundation and drug discovery platform. The Company’s most advanced product candidate, YTX-7739, is currently in Phase 1 clinical development for Parkinson’s disease. Yumanity’s drug discovery platform is designed to enable the Company to rapidly screen for potential disease-modifying therapies by overcoming toxicity of misfolded proteins in neurogenerative diseases. Yumanity’s pipeline consists of additional programs focused on Lewy body dementia, multi-system atrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD), and Alzheimer’s disease. For more information, please visit www.yumanity.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by words and phrases such as “aims,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “designed to,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “goal,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “possible,” “potential,” “seeks,” “will,” and variations of these words and phrases or similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the potential therapeutic benefits of our prospective product candidates and results of preclinical studies, including YTX-7739, and the design, commencement, enrollment, and timing of ongoing or planned clinical trials, clinical trial results, product approvals and regulatory pathways, and the anticipated benefits of our drug discovery platform. Any such statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Results in preclinical or early-stage clinical trials may not be indicative of results from later stage or larger scale clinical trials and do not ensure regulatory approval. You should not place undue reliance on these statements, or the scientific data presented.
Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on Yumanity Therapeutics’ current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry as well as management’s current beliefs and expectations of future events only as of today and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that any one or more of our product candidates will not be successfully developed or commercialized, the risk of cessation or delay of any ongoing or planned clinical trials of Yumanity Therapeutics or our collaborators, the risk that Yumanity Therapeutics may not successfully recruit or enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials, the risk that Yumanity Therapeutics may not realize the intended benefits of its drug discovery platform, the risk that our product candidates will not have the safety or efficacy profile that we anticipate, the risk that prior results, such as signals of safety, activity or durability of effect, observed from preclinical or clinical trials, will not be replicated or will not continue in ongoing or future studies or trials involving Yumanity Therapeutics’ product candidates, the risk that we will be unable to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for our product candidates, the risk that the size and growth potential of the market for our product candidates will not materialize as expected, risks associated with our dependence on third-party suppliers and manufacturers, risks regarding the accuracy of our estimates of expenses and future revenue, risks relating to our capital requirements and needs for additional financing, risks relating to clinical trial and business interruptions resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak or similar public health crises, including that such interruptions may materially delay our enrollment and development timelines and/or increase our development costs or that data collection efforts may be impaired or otherwise impacted by such crises, and risks relating to our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our product candidates. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause Yumanity Therapeutics’ actual results to differ materially and adversely from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Yumanity Therapeutics’ most recent Annual or Quarterly Report, and other important factors in Yumanity Therapeutics’ subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yumanity Therapeutics explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except to the extent required by law.
Investors:
Burns McClellan, Inc.
Lee Roth
lroth@burnsmc.com
(212) 213-0006
Media:
Burns McClellan, Inc.
Ryo Imai / Robert Flamm, Ph.D.
rimai@burnsmc.com / rflamm@burnsmc.com
(212) 213-0006
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