Cynapsus Therapeutics Appoints Nan Hutchinson to the Board of Directors

Cynapsus Therapeutics Appoints Nan Hutchinson to the Board of Directors
  
 

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb 13, 2014) - Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-VENTURE:CTH)(OTCQX:CYNAF), a specialty pharmaceutical company with a lead program in Parkinson's disease, today announced the appointment of Nan Hutchinson to the Board of Directors.

"We are extremely pleased that Nan has joined our Board of Directors," said Rochelle Stenzler, Cynapsus' Chair of the Board. "Nan brings a wealth of pharmaceutical development and business experience to the Company, including her vast knowledge of managing the commercialization of early stage pharmaceutical products. This addition is excellent news for our shareholders and reflects the Company's commitment to further enhance our Board of Directors with experienced, independent, pharmaceutical industry veterans."

Anthony Giovinazzo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cynapsus added, "We are very pleased to welcome Nan to the Board. Her experience in strategic planning, business development and marketing at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and URL Pharma will be extremely valuable as we begin to plan the commercialization strategy for APL-130277 for Parkinson's off episodes."

"Cynapsus has a potentially transformative Parkinson's therapy with important upcoming milestones and clinical data," said Ms. Hutchinson. "I am delighted to be joining the Cynapsus Board and look forward to supporting the team as they deliver on the company's promise."

Ms. Hutchinson has more than twenty-five years of pharmaceutical experience spanning all aspects of commercialization, including strategic planning, marketing, business development, sales leadership, talent identification and development. Over the past decade, Nan was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for URL Pharma, a privately held pharmaceutical company, helping transform the commercial organization and leading to the acquisition by Takeda Pharmaceutical. Prior to URL, Nan was Senior Vice President of Marketing at Bristol Myers Squibb where she ran a $2 billion multi-asset portfolio and had worldwide P&L responsibility in the Global Group. She ran several significant and profitable business units at Johnson & Johnson, winning several awards. Nan also founded a successful consulting company focused on helping companies to accelerate innovation, raise capital and scale commercial operations, and currently serves as a Life Science Advisor at MaRs Discovery District. Ms. Hutchinson holds a bachelor's degree of commerce from Mount Allison University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Boston University.

About Cynapsus Therapeutics

Cynapsus is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing a convenient and easy to use sublingual (oral) thin film strip for the acute rescue of "OFF" motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Cynapsus' drug candidate, APL-130277, is an easy-to-administer, fast-acting reformulation of apomorphine, which is the only approved drug (in the United States, Europe, Japan and other countries) to rescue patients from "OFF" episodes. Cynapsus is focused on maximizing the value of APL-130277 by completing pivotal studies in advance of a New Drug Application ("NDA") expected to be submitted in 2016.

Over one million people in the U.S. and an estimated 4 to 6 million people globally suffer from Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease that impacts motor activity, and its prevalence is increasing with the aging of the population. Based on a recent study and the results of the Company's Global 500 Neurologists Survey, it is estimated that between 25 percent and 50 percent of patients experience "OFF" episodes in which they have impaired movement or speaking capabilities. Current medications only control the disease's symptoms, and most drugs become less effective over time as the disease progresses.

More information about Cynapsus (TSX-VENTURE:CTH)(OTCQX:CYNAF) is available at www.cynapsus.ca and at the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Cynapsus to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those risks and uncertainties relating to Cynapsus' business disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in its Annual Information Form filed on August 30, 2013 and its other filings with the various Canadian securities regulators which are available online at www.sedar.com. Although Cynapsus has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Cynapsus does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Each of the TSX Venture Exchange and OTCQX has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

Cynapsus TherapeuticsAnthony GiovinazzoPresident and CEO(416) 703-2449 [e-mail] TherapeuticsAndrew WilliamsCOO & CFO(416) 703-2449 [e-mail]