NEW YORK, Feb. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TARA), a clinical-stage company developing transformative therapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases with significant unmet needs, today announced the appointment of Cynthia Smith to its Board of Directors. Ms. Smith brings to Protara over 20 years of diverse leadership experience within the healthcare industry, most recently serving as Chief Commercial Officer at ZS Pharma.
“It is with great excitement that we welcome Cynthia to our Board of Directors,” said Jesse Shefferman, Chief Executive Officer of Protara Therapeutics. “As an accomplished leader with a proven track record in key commercial and strategic roles at several leading biopharmaceutical organizations, we look forward to leveraging Cynthia’s unique insights as we continue to work toward establishing a path to market in the U.S. for TARA-002 for the treatment of lymphatic malformations and advancing our non-muscle invasive bladder cancer program.”
“Protara holds great promise in its mission to develop transformative therapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases,” said Ms. Smith. “I look forward to working alongside the talented management team and Board to help drive Protara’s continued growth and create value-enhancing opportunities for its shareholders.”
While in her role as Chief Commercial Officer at ZS Pharma, Ms. Smith led the company’s transition from a development stage company to a commercial organization. Prior to joining ZS Pharma, she served as Vice President, Market Access and Commercial Development at Affymax, Inc. Earlier, she held various senior leadership positions in market access, corporate strategy, government relations and external affairs at Merck & Co. Before beginning her career in the biopharmaceutical industry, Ms. Smith served as a Healthcare Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Management and Budget. She currently serves on the Board of Directors at Spero Therapeutics, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, and Akebia Therapeutics. She earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School and an M.S. in public policy from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.
About Protara Therapeutics, Inc.
Protara is committed to identifying and advancing transformative therapies for people with cancer and rare diseases with limited treatment options. Protara’s portfolio includes its lead program, TARA-002, an investigational cell-based therapy being developed for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and lymphatic malformations, and IV Choline Chloride, an investigational phospholipid substrate replacement therapy for the treatment of intestinal failure-associated liver disease. For more information, visit www.protaratx.com.
