Cidara Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Jim Beitel as Chief Business Officer

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDTX), a biotechnology company using its proprietary Cloudbreak system^® drug conjugate Fc receptor (DFC) immunotherapies designed to save lives and improve the standard of care for patients with serious diseases, today announced that Jim Beitel, MBA, has joined the company as Chief Business Officer (“CBO”).

Following these recent transactions, Cidara is focused solely on growing its Cloudbreak DFC pipeline, which provides numerous partnership and licensing opportunities, and its dedicated CBO will be a key resource for the organization. Preetam Shah, Ph.D., MBA, who has served as both Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) and CBO of Cidara since 2021, will continue to serve as CFO and Chief Accounting Officer overseeing the finance, accounting, and investor relations functions.

“We welcome Jim to the Cidara leadership team at an important time in our corporate transformation,” said Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D., president and CEO of Cidara. “Jim’s extensive experience in biopharmaceutical business development and partnerships will be extremely valuable as we build on the broad partnership opportunities created by our Cloudbreak program, beginning with CD388, our universal influenza preventative, entering Phase 2b this fall. I am confident he will be a tremendous asset to the company.”

Mr. Beitel added, “I am excited to join the company at this pivotal time. With the Cloudbreak platform and a promising pipeline of new DFCs, Cidara is poised to make significant advances in treating serious diseases like influenza. I look forward to leveraging my decades of experience to advance our business development efforts and building strategic partnerships that will help unlock the full potential of these breakthrough treatment options.”

Mr. Beitel has over 20 years of corporate development experience in the life sciences, including strategy, business development, commercialization, finance and other roles at a variety of companies, including biotechnology, commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical companies, early stage venture-backed companies and international pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, Mr. Beitel was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Fate Therapeutics, where his accomplishments include strategic partnerships in oncology and autoimmune diseases. During Mr. Beitel’s business development career, he successfully acquired and executed partnerships that significantly expanded the company’s pipeline, generated over $4 billion in upfront payments and collaboration revenues and contributed to opportunities to raise over $1 billion in equity financing.

Mr. Beitel earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and holds a master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School.

About Cidara Therapeutics
Cidara Therapeutics uses its proprietary Cloudbreak system^® platform for the development of novel drug-Fc conjugates (DFCs). These targeted immunotherapies offer the unique opportunity to create “single molecule cocktails” consisting of targeted small molecules and peptides conjugated to a human antibody fragment (Fc). DFCs are designed to save lives and improve the standard of care for patients with serious diseases by inhibiting specific disease targets while engaging the immune system. Cidara is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, visit www.cidara.com.

Incentive prizes
In connection with the above appointment, the Cidara Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors granted a nonqualified award of stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs) for an aggregate of 71,000 shares of common stock, pursuant to the Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. 2020 Incentive Plan, with a grant date of August 19, 2024. The stock option has an exercise price of $12.96 per share, which is equal to the closing price of Cidara common stock on the grant date. The shares subject to the option will vest over a four-year period, with 25% of the shares vesting on the first anniversary of the vesting commencement date and the remainder vesting in a series of 36 consecutive equal monthly installments thereafter. All RSUs vest in four equal annual installments, with 1/4 vesting on the first, second, third and fourth anniversaries of the quarterly vesting date that falls within the calendar quarter that includes the grant date. Quarterly vesting date means March 10, June 10, September 10, or December 10. Awards are subject to the awardee’s continued service through each vesting date and the terms of the Cidara 2020 Incentive Plan and its standard forms of grant agreements thereunder.

The above equity award was granted as a material incentive to an employee entering employment with Cidara, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. 2020 Equity Incentive Plan is used solely to grant equity awards to individuals who were not previously employees of Cidara or were not bona fide employees of Cidara, as a material incentive to such individual entering employment with Cidara, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

Cidar’s Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “may,” “plans,” or “will.” Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding whether we will initiate a Phase 2b clinical trial for CD388 in 2024, whether any of Cloudbreak’s oncology candidates will advance, and whether any license, collaboration or other transaction related to Cloudbreak assets will be completed. Such statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, such as unanticipated delays or negative results in Cidara’s preclinical or clinical trials, delays in regulatory action, and other impediments to patient recruitment or other aspects of CD388 or other DFC developments. These and other risks are identified in the “Risk Factors” section of Cidara’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other documents subsequently filed with the SEC. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and are based on assumptions and estimates of management as of such date. Cidara undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

CONTACT FOR INVESTORS:
Brian Ritchie
LifeSci Advisors
(212) 915-2578
[email protected]

MEDIA CONTACT:
Michael Fitzhug
LifeSci Communications
[email protected]