LOS ALTOS, Calif., Oct. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Unicycive Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNCY), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing therapies for patients with kidney disease, today announced the appointment of Douglas Jermasek as Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy. In this role, Mr. Jermasek, a seasoned healthcare professional, will have responsibility for Unicycive's corporate and commercial strategy and business development activities.

"With a career spent in healthcare at some of the largest biopharmaceutical companies, Doug brings a wealth of experience to Unicycive," said Shalabh Gupta, M.D., Chief Executive Officer. "Importantly, he has spent the majority of his career focused on kidney diseases where his responsibilities have included portfolio development and lifecycle management strategy through alignment of marketing, R&D, and business development activities. We are excited to have him join our team and look forward to his contributions."

Mr. Jermasek has over 25 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President, Marketing and Strategy at Akebia Therapeutics, a role he assumed after the merger with Keryx Biopharmaceuticals. He spent over a decade at Genzyme (a Sanofi Company) culminating as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Head of Renal Global Business Unit. In that role, he drove sales of over $1 billion, establishing Renvela^® as the standard of care for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and achieving "blockbuster" status globally.¹ Mr. Jermasek was also Head of North America at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, and held management positions at Prometheus Laboratories, Agouron Pharmaceuticals, and Abbott Laboratories. He received a Master of Business Administration and his Bachelor of Science in biological sciences degrees from Brigham Young University.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Jermasek, stated, "I am thrilled to join the Unicycive team whose mission is to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients battling kidney diseases. While I am proud of my past accomplishments in this field, I am also humbled by the challenges that remain and know that more can be done to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients. I look forward to bringing my commercial, business development and portfolio management expertise to bear to support this important work."

About Unicycive

Unicycive is a biotechnology company developing novel treatments for kidney diseases. Unicycive's lead drug, Renazorb, is a novel phosphate binding agent being developed for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia. UNI-494 is a patent protected new chemical entity in late preclinical development for the treatment of acute kidney injury. For more information, please visit www.unicycive.com.

Forward-looking statement

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified using words such as "anticipate," "believe," "forecast," "estimated" and "intend" or other similar terms or expressions that concern Unicycive's expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. These forward-looking statements are based on Unicycive's current expectations and actual results could differ materially. There are several factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, clinical trials involve a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results; our clinical trials may be suspended or discontinued due to unexpected side effects or other safety risks that could preclude approval of our product candidates; risks related to business interruptions, including the outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus, which could seriously harm our financial condition and increase our costs and expenses; dependence on key personnel; substantial competition; uncertainties of patent protection and litigation; dependence upon third parties; and risks related to failure to obtain FDA clearances or approvals and noncompliance with FDA regulations. Investors should read the risk factors set forth in our registration statement on Form S-1 and our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While the list of factors presented here is considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date hereof, and Unicycive does not undertake any obligation to update publicly such statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

¹Renvela^® (sevelamer carbonate) is a registered trademark of Sanofi

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SOURCE Unicycive Therapeutics, Inc.