LAVAL, QC, Sept. 27, 2017 /CNW/ - BELLUS Health Inc. (TSX: BLU) (BELLUS Health or the Company), a biopharmaceutical development company advancing novel therapeutics for conditions with high unmet medical need, today announced that biotech entrepreneur Dr. Clarissa Desjardins is joining its Board of Directors.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Desjardins to our Board of Directors as she brings a wealth of experience in building successful biotech companies," said Dr. Francesco Bellini, Chairman of the Board of BELLUS Health. "As an award-winning biotech entrepreneur, Dr. Desjardins' experience will be a valuable contribution to the BELLUS Health Board of Directors."
Dr. Desjardins is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. In addition to founding Clementia in 2011, she established and helped build two other successful biotech companies: Advanced Bioconcept and Caprion Pharmaceuticals. She earned a Ph.D. in Neurology and Neurosurgery from McGill's Faculty of Medicine, and was a Medical Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre.
Concurrent with the appointment of Dr. Desjardins, BELLUS Health also announced that Dr. Martin Tolar will be stepping down from the Company's Board of Directors. "On behalf of the Board of Directors, BELLUS Health would like to thank Dr. Tolar for his valuable contributions and commitment to the Company," said Dr. Francesco Bellini.
About BELLUS Health (www.bellushealth.com)
BELLUS Health is a biopharmaceutical development company advancing novel therapeutics for conditions with high unmet medical need. Its pipeline of projects includes BLU-5937 for chronic cough and several other partnered clinical-stage drug development programs. BLU-5937, a selective P2X3 antagonist, has the potential to be a best-in-class therapeutic for chronic cough patients who do not respond to current therapies. Chronic cough is a cough that lasts more than eight weeks and is associated with significant adverse social, psychosocial and physical effects on quality of life. It is estimated that more than 2.7 million patients suffer from refractory chronic cough in the United States alone.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release, other than statements of fact that are independently verifiable at the date hereof, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and regulations. Such statements, based as they are on the current expectations of management, inherently involve numerous important risks, uncertainties and assumptions, known and unknown, many of which are beyond BELLUS Health Inc.'s control. Such risks factors include but are not limited to: the ability to expand and develop its project pipeline, the ability to obtain financing, the impact of general economic conditions, general conditions in the pharmaceutical industry, changes in the regulatory environment in the jurisdictions in which BELLUS Health Inc. does business, stock market volatility, fluctuations in costs, changes to the competitive environment due to consolidation, achievement of forecasted burn rate, potential payments/outcomes in relation to indemnity agreements and contingent value rights, achievement of forecasted pre-clinical and clinical trial milestones and that actual results may vary once the final and quality-controlled verification of data and analyses has been completed. In addition, the length of BELLUS Health Inc.'s drug candidates' development process, their market size and commercial value, as well as the sharing of proceeds between BELLUS Health Inc. and its potential partners from potential future revenues, if any, are dependent upon a number of factors. Consequently, actual future results and events may differ materially from the anticipated results and events expressed in the forward-looking statements. The Company believes that expectations represented by forward-looking statements are reasonable, yet there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The reader should not place undue reliance, if any, on any forward-looking statements included in this news release. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and BELLUS Health Inc. is under no obligation and disavows any intention to update publicly or revise such statements as a result of any new information, future event, circumstances or otherwise, unless required by applicable legislation or regulation. Please see BELLUS Health Inc.'s public filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the Annual Information Form, for further risk factors that might affect BELLUS Health Inc. and its business.
SOURCE BELLUS Health Inc.
François Desjardins, Vice-President, Finance, 450-680-4525, [email protected]
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