Carrick Therapeutics to establish operations in Boston

Biopharmaceutical company Carrick Therapeutics is moving into the US market and will establish operations in Boston, Massachusetts, the company announced on Friday.

As part of the transition, company founder Elaine Sullivan will relinquish her role as chief executive. Industry veteran Tim Pearson, who has experience of the US market, has been appointed to the role. He will be based in Boston.

Dr Sullivan, who was named Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year at the EY awards last year, will take on a new role as “executive entrepreneur and adviser to the board of directors”.

Carrick Therapeutics, which focuses on cancer drugs, announced the plans on Friday.

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“The board of directors has made the decision to expand company operations in Boston to access US capital markets, and the tremendous talent pool to support the expected growth of Carrick,” said Dr George Golumbeski, chairman of the company’s board.

“With this transition, we will continue operations in Dublin and the UK, while adding new capabilities in Boston,” he said.

“We are thankful for all that Elaine has done in taking Carrick from inception to a company with multiple clinical assets in such a short period of time, and I am delighted that we will continue to have Elaine drive the company forward.”

Growth phase

Dr Sullivan said she was “very proud” of the accomplishments of her team and the “creation of a multi-asset portfolio of clinical-stage drugs targeting critical pathways that drive aggressive and resistant cancers”.

“It is now time for a new phase of growth, fuelled by new funding and talent. I am excited about my new role and look forward to supporting the future success of the company and the board of directors as Carrick expands,” she added.

Mr Pearson said he was “honoured to join such a talented management team and exceptional collaborators in the mission of transforming cancer treatments and the lives of cancer patients”.

Mr Pearson most recently held the position of executive vice-president and chief financial officer for Tesaro, a cancer-focused biopharmaceutical public company that was acquired by GSK in January.

Prior to that, he was chief financial officer at Catalyst Health Solutions, a publicly held pharmacy benefit manager with more than $5 billion in revenues until the company was acquired by SXC Health Solutions in 2012.

Carrick is privately held with headquarters in Dublin and operations in the UK. It is focused on cancer therapeutics and currently has two significant programmes in clinical studies, as well as a number of pre-clinical candidates.