Business
Kura Oncology Expands Board of Directors with Appointment of Diane Parks
– Accomplished executive adds extensive experience in launching novel therapies as Company sets sights on commercial readiness – SAN DIEGO, Oct. 15, 2019
About this update from Kura Oncology, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"– Accomplished executive adds extensive experience in launching novel therapies as Company sets sights on commercial readiness –\nSAN DIEGO, Oct. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kura Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: KURA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, today announced the appointment of veteran commercial executive Diane Parks to its board of directors. Among her many achievements, Ms. Parks is credited with developing and executing the strategic plan for the launch of the novel CAR-T therapy Yescarta® and the marketing strategies for the blockbuster oncology drug Imbruvica®. The addition of Ms. Parks expands Kura's board to seven members, six of whom are independent.\n “Diane is an accomplished executive with an impressive track record of driving profitable growth for large pharmaceutical and biotech companies,” said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Oncology. “Her commercialization experience will be invaluable as we continue to execute on the initial registration-directed trial of our lead drug candidate tipifarnib and begin to focus on commercial readiness. On behalf of Kura and our board of directors, I am very pleased to welcome Diane and look forward to drawing upon her expertise during this exciting period of growth for the company.” Ms. Parks joins the Kura board of directors with more than 30 years of commercial experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President, Head of U.S. Commercial for Kite Pharma (acquired by Gilead for $11.9 billion), where she developed and executed the strategic plan for the commercial launch of Yescarta®, the first CAR-T therapy approved for large B-cell lymphoma. Previously, Ms. Parks served as Vice President, Head of Global Marketing for Pharmacyclics (acquired by Abbvie for $21 billion), where she was responsible for the marketing strategy and launch of Imbruvica®. Before that, she served as Vice President, Sales for Amgen, where she successfully led the Hospital and Nephrology sales teams. In addition, she served as Senior Vice President, Specialty Biotherapeutics and Managed Care for Genentech (acquired by Roche for $46.8 billion). She currently serves on the boards of Calliditas Therapeutics, Soligenix and Tr...