NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tourmaline Bio, Inc. (Tourmaline), a late-stage clinical biotechnology company developing transformative medicines to dramatically improve the lives of patients with life-altering immune diseases, today announced the appointment of Gerhard Hagn, PharmD, to the newly created role of SVP, Head of Commercial and Business Development. In this role, Mr. Hagn will oversee commercial and business development strategy and planning.

Gerhard has over two decades of experience as a biopharma executive with commercial expertise in drug development, launches, access and business development. He joins from Gilead Sciences, where he was building the Inflammation business unit and leading the liver franchise as Head of Global Commercial Strategy - Inflammation, Liver & Portfolio. Before Gilead, Gerhard was the Head of Pfizer’s Inflammation & Immunology business unit, responsible for reimbursement, pricing and real-world evidence generation in Rheumatology, Dermatology and Gastroenterology. Gerhard received his degree as “Apotheker” (PharmD) from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany.

“We are delighted to welcome Gerhard to Tourmaline. He brings decades of experience from Gilead and Pfizer in the inflammation and immunology space across a broad range of indications and is a great addition to our growing team,” said Sandeep Kulkarni, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Tourmaline. “He is joining at a very important time for Tourmaline as our clinical pipeline enters late-stage clinical development. His tremendous insights and capabilities will be invaluable as we plan our commercial footprint and expand our pipeline of potentially transformative medicines to treat immune diseases.”

“With great enthusiasm, I’m joining the Tourmaline team during an exciting time as the company continues to advance its product opportunities across a number of diseases with high unmet medical needs," said Gerhard. "As we prepare to initiate the Phase 2b clinical trial for our lead program in Thyroid Eye Disease (TED), we stand at the threshold of potentially making substantial contributions to the field of life-altering immune diseases, including TED and cardiovascular disease. Tourmaline's pioneering efforts in IL-6 blockers, an area with significant untapped potential, open up compelling avenues for commercial and business development. I am excited about bringing my commercial and business development expertise to the team at Tourmaline."

About Tourmaline Bio, Inc.

Tourmaline Bio is a late-stage clinical biotechnology company driven by its mission to develop transformative medicines that dramatically improve the lives of patients with life-altering immune diseases. Tourmaline’s lead program, TOUR006, is an anti-IL-6 antibody that exhibits differentiated properties including high binding affinity to IL-6 and a naturally long half-life. To date, TOUR006 has been studied in over 400 autoimmune patients across six clinical trials. Tourmaline plans to develop TOUR006 in thyroid eye disease (TED) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) as its first two indications, with additional indications under consideration. In June 2023, Tourmaline announced it had entered into a definitive agreement with Talaris Therapeutics under which Tourmaline is expected to combine with Talaris. The combined company will operate under Tourmaline’s name and be led by Tourmaline’s current management team, focused on advancing the development of TOUR006.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, express or implied statements regarding the development and commercial potential and potential benefits of any product candidates or platform technologies of Tourmaline, including the development and commercial potential of Tourmaline’s lead program, TOUR006, and its potential benefits for life-altering immune diseases, such as Thyroid Eye Disease and cardiovascular disease; and other statements that are not historical fact. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this communication are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date they were first issued, and were based on the then-current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections, as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond Tourmaline’s control. Tourmaline’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to (i) the uncertainties associated with Tourmaline’s platform technologies, as well as risks associated with the clinical development and regulatory approval of product candidates, including potential delays in the commencement, enrollment and completion of clinical trials; (ii) risks related to the inability of Tourmaline to obtain sufficient additional capital to continue to advance its product candidates and preclinical programs; (iii) uncertainties in obtaining successful clinical results for product candidates and unexpected costs that may result therefrom; and (iv) risks related to the failure to realize any value from product candidates and preclinical programs being developed and anticipated to be developed in light of inherent risks and difficulties involved in successfully bringing product candidates to market, among others. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. These and other risks and uncertainties are more fully described in periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Talaris Therapeutic, Inc.’s Registration Statement on S-4 filed with the SEC. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made only as of the date hereof or as of the dates indicated in the forward-looking statements. Tourmaline expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Contacts:

Lee M. Stern
Meru Advisors
lstern@meruadvisors.com