Full Press Release Details
Kiora Pharmaceuticals
Appoints Melissa Tosca as Executive Vice President of Finance
Salt Lake City, Utah--(Newsfile Corp. - September
13, 2022) - Kiora Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: KPRX) ("Kiora" or the "Company") has appointed Melissa
Tosca as Executive Vice President of Finance. Mrs. Tosca will join the executive management team and oversee finance, SEC reporting and
accounting functions as well as play a role in the company's capital markets strategy and planning.
"Melissa brings to our company more than
15 years of financial and operational experience in both clinical and commercial-stage biotech and life science companies," said
Brian M. Strem, Ph.D., President and CEO of Kiora. "This experience will be invaluable to our goals of advancing our development
pipeline and supporting our next phase of growth."
Prior to joining Kiora, Melissa served as
Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Treasurer for Neomorph, where she managed the company's finance and accounting functions.
She also served as Director of Finance and Accounting at Omniome, building the accounting and finance infrastructure and managing the
company's financial operations. Prior to Omniome, she spent nine years at Caris Life Sciences, serving in various leadership roles including
Director of Finance and Accounting, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis and Senior Director of Sales Operations. She began her
professional career in public accounting at Clifton Gunderson and later moved to Ernst and Young as an Audit Manager. Melissa is a Certified
Public Accountant and holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Arizona.
"I am pleased to be able to join the
team and help advance their pipeline of new treatments for underserved ophthalmic diseases," said Melissa Tosca, newly appointed
EVP of Finance. "It is an exciting time for Kiora as they begin a first-in-human study for what could be a transformative treatment
to restore vision in patients with a rare form of blindness."
About Kiora Pharmaceuticals
Kiora Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage
biotechnology company developing and commercializing products for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases. KIO-301 is being developed for
the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa. It is a molecular photoswitch that has the potential to restore vision in patients with inherited
and/or age-related retinal degeneration. KIO-101 is being developed for the treatment of the Ocular Presentation of Rheumatoid Arthritis
("OPRA"). It is a next-generation, non-steroidal, immuno-modulatory and small molecule inhibitor of Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase
("DHODH") with what Kiora believes is best-in-class picomolar potency and a validated immune modulating mechanism (blocks T
cell proliferation and proinflammatory cytokine release) designed to overcome the off-target side effects and safety issues associated
with commercially available DHODH inhibitors. In addition, Kiora is developing KIO-201, a modified form of the natural polymer hyaluronic
acid, designed to accelerate corneal wound healing.
In addition to news releases and SEC filings,
we expect to post information on our website, www.kiorapharma.com, and social media accounts that could be relevant to
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this press release
are "forward-looking" and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These "forward-looking" statements include statements relating to, among other things, the development and commercialization
efforts and other regulatory or marketing approval efforts pertaining to Kiora's development-stage products, including KIO-101, KIO-201
and KIO-301, as well as the success thereof, with such approvals or success may not be obtained or achieved on a timely basis or at all.
These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from the statements set forth in this press
release, including, among other things, the ability to conduct clinical trials on a timely basis, market and other conditions and certain
risk factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in Kiora's Amendment No. 1 to Annual Report on Form 10-K/A
filed with the SEC on July 7, 2022 or described in Kiora's other public filings. Kiora's results may also be affected by factors of which
Kiora is not currently aware. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Kiora
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to such statements to reflect any change
in its expectations with regard thereto or any changes in the events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based,
except as required by law.
Francina Agosti, PhD