LA JOLLA, Calif., July 08, 2020 — Cend Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly DrugCendR, Inc.), a clinical-stage biotech company, announced today changes in the senior management of the company. David Slack, MBA will take over as President and CEO. Erkki Ruoslahti, MD, PhD, co-founding CEO will remain Chairman and serve as a senior advisor for the Company.
Mr. Slack has over 25 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry having served in senior positions in several companies with focus on advancing innovative treatments for cancer patients. He has served as a member of the Cend Therapeutics board of directors since 2019. Most recently, Mr. Slack served as Chief Business Officer of Viracta Therapeutics. Prior to Viracta, he has served as co-founding CEO at Kinagen, Inc.; Vice President for Business Development at Ionis Pharmaceuticals; and in senior roles at Aventis Pharma, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals and RPR Gencell.
Dr. Ruoslahti said: “I am very pleased to announce David’s appointment as CEO. He brings extensive senior management, financing and business development expertise to the Company. Cend has come a long way in the past 5 years; we have nearly completed a Phase 1 clinical trial with our lead investigational drug, CEND-1, in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer, and we have an extensive preclinical-stage opportunities to apply our CendR drug delivery platform. David is the right leader to take the company through the next stage in its development.”
Mr. Slack said: “I am honored to take on this role with Cend. In addition to the encouraging results in the clinic, Erkki and the Cend team have laid the groundwork for broad applications of the Company’s technology, which opens up additional funding, product and partnering opportunities.”