LONDON, Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- COMPASS Pathways plc (Nasdaq: CMPS)
("COMPASS"), a biotechnology company dedicated to accelerating patient access to
evidence-based innovation in mental health, today announced the appointment of
Daphne Karydas to its Board of Directors, effective September 18, 2023. Ms.
Karydas is President and Chief Financial Officer at Flare Therapeutics Inc., a
privately held biotechnology company targeting transcription factors to discover
precision medicines for cancer and other diseases.
"Daphne is an ideal match for the COMPASS Pathways Board of Directors as we
progress our phase 3 COMP360 psilocybin program in treatment-resistant
depression and our phase 2 programs in anorexia nervosa and post-traumatic
stress disorder," said George Goldsmith, Chairman of the COMPASS Pathways Board
of Directors. "Her deep industry experience, her interdisciplinary approach to
implementing growth strategies for biopharma, and her understanding of investor
priorities will help ensure that the company is on firm financial and strategic
ground as we seek to bring much needed innovation to patients suffering with
serious mental health conditions. We are delighted to welcome her."
"I am excited to join the COMPASS board as the company advances its pioneering
COMP360 psilocybin program," said Ms. Karydas. "Its recent impressive
fundraising round was validation of both the potential of psychedelic medicine
and the rigorous, evidence-based approach the company is pursuing. I am looking
forward to working with the board and the executive team, and doing my part to
advance COMPASS's mission."
Ms. Karydas has over two decades of experience serving in financial and
operations leadership roles with biopharmaceutical and asset management
companies. Prior to joining Flare Therapeutics in October 2021, Ms. Karydas
served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
and in financial and strategy roles at Allergan plc, serving as Senior Vice
President, Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis and Strategy at the time of
the company's acquisition by AbbVie in May 2020. She also previously held
healthcare analyst roles with JPMorgan Asset Management, The Boston Company
Asset Management, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and was a vice president
in the healthcare group of the investment banking division of Goldman, Sachs &
Co.
In addition to her experience as an executive, Ms. Karydas also serves as a
board member of Mineralys Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company focused on developing medicines to target hypertension, chronic kidney
disease and other diseases driven by abnormally elevated aldosterone. She
previously served on the board of LogicBio Therapeutics, a clinical-stage
genomic medicine company that was acquired in 2022 by the rare disease business
group within AstraZeneca, and Elicio Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company
focused on lymph-node targeted immunotherapies to defeat cancer and infectious
diseases.
Ms. Karydas earned BS and MS degrees in chemical engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and worked as a chemical engineer at Merck
& Co. following her studies. She earned her MBA from Harvard Business School.
About COMPASS Pathways
COMPASS Pathways plc (Nasdaq: CMPS) is a biotechnology company dedicated to
accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health. Our
focus is on improving the lives of those who are suffering with mental health
challenges and who are not helped by current treatments. We are pioneering the
development of a new model of psilocybin therapy, in which our proprietary
formulation of synthetic psilocybin, COMP360, is administered in conjunction
with psychological support. COMP360 has been designated a Breakthrough Therapy
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has received Innovative
Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) designation in the UK for treatment-
resistant depression (TRD). We have commenced a phase 3 clinical program of
COMP360 psilocybin therapy in TRD, the largest randomized, controlled, double-
blind psilocybin therapy clinical program ever conducted. Previously, we
completed a phase 2b study with top line data showing a statistically
significant (pÂ