About

Overview

Cidara is developing long-acting therapeutics designed to improve the standard of care for patients facing serious diseases. The Company’s portfolio is comprised of new approaches aimed at transforming existing treatment and prevention paradigms, first with its lead Phase 3 antifungal candidate, rezafungin, in addition to drug-Fc conjugates (DFCs) targeting viral and oncology diseases from Cidara’s proprietary Cloudbreak® platform.

Cidara is headquartered in San Diego, California and is built around the core values of collaboration, integrity, accountability, urgency and courage which foster a unique and award-winning atmosphere. In 2020, Cidara was named a San Diego Metro Area top workplace for the fourth consecutive year by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Leadership

Management

President and Chief Executive Officer

Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D.

Dr. Stein has been President, CEO and Director of Cidara since January 2014. Previously he was CEO of Trius Therapeutics, Inc. from 2007 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in September 2013. During his tenure, Trius developed the antibacterial drug tedizolid, which received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June 2014. Tedizolid is now marketed by Merck under the name Sivextro. Dr. Stein currently serves as a Director of Paratek Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PRTK) and Ideaya Biosciences. He is also founding Chairman and President of the Antimicrobials Working Group, an industry leading 501(c)(6) organization. Previously, Dr. Stein was a Venture Partner and Kauffman Fellow with Sofinnova Ventures and opened the firm’s San Diego office in 2005. Prior to joining Sofinnova Ventures, Dr. Stein was co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Quorex Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in 2005. He has also served as a Principal Scientist with Diversa Corporation and the Agouron Institute. Dr. Stein conducted his postdoctoral research as an Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology and his graduate work as a NASA Graduate Student Researcher Fellow at the University of California, San Diego.
Chief Operating Officer

Paul Daruwala

Mr. Daruwala has over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and leads multiple facets of Cidara’s operations and strategy, including portfolio and commercial strategy, manufacturing, medical affairs and corporate communications. Prior to joining Cidara in 2014, Mr. Daruwala was at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, where he served as Vice President of the U.S. Viral Hepatitis Franchise and was responsible for leading the U.S. launch in HCV and running the HBV business for BARACLUDE. Prior to Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mr. Daruwala served as Vice President Commercial & Strategic Management at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he helped lead the U.S. launch of INCIVEK for HCV. At the time, INCIVEK became the fastest drug launch to achieve blockbuster status. Mr. Daruwala had previously spent 18 years at Merck in U.S. and global commercial leadership roles in antivirals, antifungals, anti-inflammatory products, business development and evaluation in anti-infectives and oncology, managed markets and sales management. Among these, he led the global commercialization efforts for the first approved echinocandin antifungal drug, caspofungin acetate (CANCIDAS). Paul received his degree in pharmacy from the University of Kentucky.
Vice President, Human Resources

Allison Lewis, SPHR, CCP

Ms. Lewis joined Cidara in February 2015 and serves as Vice President, Human Resources responsible for all aspects of people and culture including employee engagement, compensation, organizational design, talent management, and strategic HR initiatives. She has over 15 years of diverse Human Resources experience primarily in the life sciences industry, across all stages of development and commercialization. Prior to joining Cidara, she was on the Human Resources teams at Cadence Pharmaceuticals and, subsequently, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals after its acquisition of Cadence in 2014. Ms. Lewis also held HR management roles of increasing responsibility at PPD, Applied Technology and Management and IGY.

Ms. Lewis received her bachelor’s degree in Business from University of Florida and holds designations as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), and a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP). She leverages her expertise in service on the board of LifeHR, a San Diego Life Sciences HR association.

Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations

Laura Navalta

Ms. Navalta has over 30 years of extensive experience in the clinical operations arena and heads Cidara Therapeutics’ clinical trials team. Prior to joining Cidara, she was responsible for leading clinical, regulatory and project management functions, while serving as Chief Operating Officer at C3 Jian Therapeutics and Novalar Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Navalta also served as Executive Director of Clinical Operations at Vical, Inc. and was responsible for all clinical trials in the oncology and infectious disease programs. She has also held management positions at Baxter Healthcare Corporation where she was the Senior Director of Global Clinical Operations, BioScience Division, overseeing the company’s global clinical studies involving coagulation disorders, biosurgery and critical care areas. Ms. Navalta has served in clinical operations senior advisory roles across multiple therapeutic areas and all phases of drug development. Ms. Navalta received her B.A. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Southern California.
Chief Medical Officer

Taylor Sandison, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Sandison has been with Cidara since October 2015. He has extensive experience in anti-infective clinical trials and drug development in both academia and industry. Prior to joining the company, he served as senior medical director at Merck and prior to that held the same position at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Sandison has also held positions at Trius Therapeutics and Novartis Diagnostics, and served as a member of the faculty in the Department of Medicine at both Stanford University and the University of Washington. He received B.S. and B.A. degrees from Dartmouth College, M.D. and M.P.H. degrees from the University of Washington, and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He completed internal medicine residency training at the University of Colorado and infectious diseases fellowship training at the University of Washington. Dr. Sandison currently holds board certifications in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine.
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer

Preetam Shah, Ph.D., MBA

Dr. Shah joined Cidara Therapeutics Inc. on September 1, 2021, as its Chief Financial and Business Officer and brings over 20 years of health care industry experience in corporate finance, business development, and strategy. Before joining Cidara, he served as EVP, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BCLI), a publicly listed biotechnology company, where led the development and implementation of key financial and capital strategies and contributed to its corporate initiatives. Prior to Brainstorm, he spent over 6 years, from 2013- 2019, as an investment banker, advising healthcare companies on equity, debt and M&A transactions holding senior roles at leading banks including Barclays Capital PLC. from 2016-2019, and Canaccord Genuity Inc. from 2013-2016. From 2010-2013, he founded Saisarva LLC. a healthcare consulting firm, where he executed and negotiated numerous licensing deals with pharmaceutical companies and was also responsible for the alliance management of those deals. During this period, he also acted as a consultant for healthcare-focused private equity firms and hedge funds. From 2006-2009, he served as Vice President, U.S. Operations and Investments at Reliance Capital USA Ventures LLC, an affiliate of Reliance ADA Group Companies, where he was responsible for making early stage venture investments in healthcare companies and other fund of funds. Dr. Shah completed his post-doctoral fellowship in Infectious Diseases from Stanford University School of Medicine, holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and a M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Chief Scientific Officer

Les Tari, Ph.D.

Dr. Tari has over 19 years of experience in early stage drug discovery in both industry and academia. He has led a number of discovery programs and is an author or inventor on over 50 publications and patents. Previous to Cidara, Dr. Tari held positions of increasing responsibility at Trius Therapeutics from 2007 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals in 2013. At Trius, Dr. Tari led the efforts to generate and advance a novel class of dual-targeting broad spectrum antibacterial agents. Prior to Trius, Dr. Tari was a co-founder and Director of Structural Biology from 2003 to 2007 at ActiveSight Inc., where he led all research efforts in inflammation and oncology. From 2001 until 2003, Dr. Tari was a member of the scientific staff during the start-up phase of Syrrx Inc., where he participated in the design and development of the first industrial high-throughput structural genomics platform that aided in the discovery of Alogliptin, subsequently approved for the treatment of type II diabetes. Previous to his career in industry, Dr. Tari held an academic position as an Alberta Heritage Foundation Scholar for Medical Research at the University of Calgary, where he conducted research focused on antibiotic discovery. Dr. Tari holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry and Structural Biology from the University of Manitoba.
Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance

Carol Waldo

Ms. Waldo brings over 30 years of experience in biopharmaceutical research and development to Cidara Therapeutics, leading Regulatory Affairs strategy and overseeing the Quality Assurance function. Ms. Waldo’s expertise includes small molecules and biologics, anti-infectives, inflammation, gastrointestinal, and bone therapeutic areas. Her strategic regulatory experience spans the lifecycle from IND-enabling through marketing applications, label negotiations, launch, and advertising and promotion. She has represented the sponsor in meetings with FDA, Health Canada, and European Agencies and provided regulatory leadership for advisory committee meetings. Before joining Cidara, Ms. Waldo was the head of regulatory affairs at Spero Therapeutics, responsible for several anti-infective programs. Her accomplishments included Pre-IND and EOP1/Pre-Phase 3 meetings, QIDP applications, and opening an IND with a Phase 3 global study. As Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Waldo was responsible for CUBICIN and the GI portfolio. She established an Advertising, Promotion, and Labeling Team and served as the Regulatory lead for Trius and Optimer integrations. As Head of Cubist-West Regulatory Affairs, she was responsible for the SIVEXTRO NDA, US Advisory Committee, label negotiations, and supporting product launch. Before joining Cubist, Ms. Waldo was a Global Regulatory Leader at Amgen for ENBREL, PROLIA, and other programs. Joining Quintiles in 1999 marked her transition from earlier Quality Assurance/Compliance roles into strategic regulatory consulting. Ms. Waldo holds a Bachelor of Arts from North Central College and Regulatory Affairs Certification (US, EU, CAN) from the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society.
Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary

Shane Ward

Mr. Ward is a licensed attorney and public company executive with more than 25 years of experience in diverse biopharmaceutical industry settings. As Cidara’s Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, he is responsible for the company’s legal, compliance, and corporate governance functions. Prior to joining us, Mr. Ward was Chief Legal and Strategy Officer for Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage cell therapy company. He previously held legal and operational leadership roles with commercial and development-stage biotechnology companies including Gilead Sciences, Human Genome Sciences, and Versartis. He began his legal career in the FDA regulatory practice group of Sidley Austin, an international law firm. Mr. Ward holds a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board

Dan Burgess

Mr. Burgess has more than 20 years of executive level experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Mr. Burgess is currently a venture partner at SV Health Investors, and serves as the Acting President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director of Therini Bio, Inc., a private vascular biology company.In 2011, he was one of the founding members of Rempex, which was subsequently acquired by The Medicines Co. in 2013 for $140M upfront, with a total potential deal value of $474M. Prior to Rempex, Mr. Burgess was President and Chief Executive Officer of Mpex Pharmaceuticals, which he joined in 2007. During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer, Mpex advanced its lead product Aeroquin from Phase 1 into Phase 3 clinical trials, raised substantial venture capital funding and ultimately achieved a successful exit in 2011 with its acquisition by Aptalis. The transaction with Aptalis was named by Scrip magazine as a finalist for “Deal of the Year”. Before joining Mpex, Mr. Burgess was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on biodefense, infectious disease and immune system disorders. Previously, he spent ten years at Gensia Sicor, Inc., which is a specialty pharmaceutical firmand was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, where he held a variety of executive level positions with responsibility for overall finance for the company as well as a number of different operating units. Mr. Burgess received his B.A.in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Burgess was a member of the Board of Directors of Santarus, Inc. until its acquisition by Salix for $2.6B in 2013.

Bonnie Bassler, Ph.D.

Dr. Bassler currently serves in several roles at Princeton University, including Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology since 2013, associated faculty member of the Department of Chemistry since 2010, Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 2005, Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology since 1994, and associate faculty member of the Princeton Environmental Institute since 1996. Previously, Dr. Bassler served as the Director of the Council on Science and Technology at Princeton University from July 2008 to June 2013. Dr. Bassler has served as a board member of Royalty Pharma plc since June 2020, as a board member of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since 2016, and as a Trustee of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 2014, and previously served as a board member of Sanofi from November 2014 to September 2016. Dr. Bassler served as a board member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from January 2012 to December 2016. She was a member of the National Science Board from January 2010 until May 2016. Dr. Bassler has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the Royal Society, among other honorific organizations. She received a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of California-Davis and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the John Hopkins University.

Carin Canale-Theakston

Ms. Canale-Theakston currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Canale Communications Inc., a life sciences communications company that she founded in May 2010. Prior to founding Canale Communications, Ms. Canale-Theakston served as President of the life sciences division of Porter Novelli, an international public relations firm, from May 2005 until May 2010. Prior to Porter Novelli, Ms. Canale-Theakston was a Partner and Managing Director of Atkins + Associates, a life sciences communication firm, from February 2000 until it was acquired by Porter Novelli in May 2005. She has also served as a member of the CONNECT (previously San Diego Venture Group), board since January 2007, including Chair in 2011-2012. Since January 2007, Ms. Canale-Theakston has served as a member and vice chair of the board of directors of BIOCOM and is currently chair of the nominating-governance committee. Ms. Canale-Theakston also serves on the advisory board for Abintus Bio and Epitracker Inc. Ms. Canale-Theakston holds a B.A. in communications and marketing from the University of Tulsa.

Timothy Franson, M.D.

Dr. Franson currently serves as a Principal in the Health and FDA Practice for Faegre Drinker Consulting. From 2014 until 2019, he served as the Chief Medical Officer of YourEncore, an advisory firm focused on global life sciences and consumer health companies. From 2009 until 2014, he was a Principal of FaegreBD Consulting, a clinical and regulatory pharmaceutical development consulting firm, which merged into Faegre Drinker in 2020. In 2008, Dr. Franson founded and served as President of Franson Pharma Advisors LLC, a clinical and regulatory pharmaceutical development consulting firm. Between 1986 and 2008, Dr. Franson held various senior leadership positions at Eli Lilly and Company. At the time of his retirement, he served as Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs at Lilly Research Laboratories, an Eli Lilly subsidiary. Dr. Franson was integrally involved in global public health initiatives through the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), serving as the past President of this organization and on the USP Board of Trustees from 2010 to 2020. He serves on the Board of Directors of Paratek Pharmaceuticals and as the Board Chair for the Critical Path Institute, which collaborates with FDA and industry in innovation advances. Dr. Franson has authored more than 50 articles in the fields of infectious disease, epidemiology, pharmacoeconomics and antibiotic utilization. He holds a B.S. in Pharmacy from Drake University and an M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.

David Gollaher, Ph.D.

Dr. Gollaher was the Senior Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs at Vir Biotechnology, Inc., a role he held from May 2019 to February 2021. Previously, Dr. Gollaher served as the Vice President of Global Government Affairs and Policy for Gilead Sciences from early 2014 to mid-2018, a period during which the company launched a breakthrough cure for hepatitis C (HCV) and tripled revenues from $10 billion to $30 billion. In addition to the introduction of three novel drugs for HCV, building on Gilead’s strength in virology, he was involved in the launch of a new generation of medicines for HIV/AIDS. Before joining Gilead, Dr. Gollaher was Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the California Healthcare Institute (CHI). From 1993 to 2013,he built CHI into the nation’s premier state-based life sciences policy research and advocacy association, with offices in La Jolla, Washington D.C. and Sacramento, representing some 370 biopharma, medical device and diagnostics companies, along with leading academic institutions, venture capital and professional services firms. In 2018, Dr. Gollaher was appointed Quintiles Senior Fellow at the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California. In addition, he serves on the Board of Overseers for Scripps Research. Earlier in his career, Dr. Gollaher was Vice President at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, responsible for managed care, strategy and corporate affairs. He earned his B.A. from UCSB and his master’s and Ph.D. degrees, concentrating in the History of Science and Medicine, from Harvard University.

Chrysa Mineo

Ms. Mineo led corporate development at Receptos, Inc., from 2009 to 2015, where strategic partnering efforts for Phase 3 immunology candidate ozanimod resulted in the company’s acquisition by Celgene for $7.2 billion. During her tenure,she played a key role in the Receptos initial public offering (IPO) and established product and technology collaborations with AbbVie, Ono, Lilly and Janssen. Prior to Receptos, Ms. Mineo held roles of increasing business development responsibilityat Neurocrine Biosciences from 1997 to 2009, where she led or played a primary role in negotiating and closing more than 25 transactions, including worldwide or regional product candidate collaborations from Phase 1 to registration and product in-licensing transactions. Prior to Neurocrine, Ms. Mineo served in various capacities in research, marketing and business development for such companies as Amgen, DNAX Research Institute, Schering Plough and Baxter Biotech. Ms. Mineo holds a B.S. in Zoology from theUniversity of California, Davis and received her MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Additionally, Ms. Mineo is a Co-Founder of Alume Biosciences, a member of the Director’s Council at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Ted Schroeder

Mr. Schroeder is currently Chief Executive Officer and a director of Nabriva Pharmaceuticals, a role he has held subsequent to the 2018 acquisition of Zavante Therapeutics, a company that he co-founded and served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to that, he was one of Cadence Pharmaceutical’s co-founders and served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors member since its inception in May 2004 until its acquisition by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals for $1.4 billion in 2014. From August 2002 to February 2004, he served as Senior Vice President of North American Sales and Marketing of Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a neuroscience-based pharmaceutical company. From February 2001 to August 2002, Mr. Schroeder served as General Manager of the Hospital Products Business Unit at Elan, a position he also held at Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty respiratory pharmaceutical and pulmonary drug delivery company, from May 1999 to November 2000 until its acquisition by Elan. Prior to joining Dura, Mr. Schroeder held a number of hospital-related sales and marketing positions with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, a global pharmaceutical company. Mr. Schroeder is the former Chairman of Biocom, the California life sciences trade association. Additionally, Mr. Schroeder is the current Chairman of The Antimicrobials Working Group (AWG), a trade association focused on improving the prospects for innovation in antimicrobials. Mr. Schroeder is also a current director of Otonomy, Inc. Previously Mr. Schroeder served on the board of Collegium Pharmaceuticals until May 2021 and he also served on the boards of Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Incline Therapeutics, Hyperion Therapeutics and Trius Therapeutics until their respective acquisitions. Mr. Schroeder holds a B.S. in Management from Rutgers University.

Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D.

Dr. Stein has been President, CEO and Director of Cidara since January 2014. Previously he was CEO of Trius Therapeutics, Inc. from 2007 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in September 2013. During his tenure, Trius developed the antibacterial drug tedizolid, which received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June 2014. Tedizolid is now marketed by Merck under the name Sivextro. Dr. Stein currently serves as a Director of Paratek Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PRTK) and Ideaya Biosciences. He is also founding Chairman and President of the Antimicrobials Working Group, an industry leading 501(c)(6) organization. Previously, Dr. Stein was a Venture Partner and Kauffman Fellow with Sofinnova Ventures and opened the firm’s San Diego office in 2005. Prior to joining Sofinnova Ventures, Dr. Stein was co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Quorex Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in 2005. He has also served as a Principal Scientist with Diversa Corporation and the Agouron Institute. Dr. Stein conducted his postdoctoral research as an Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology and his graduate work as a NASA Graduate Student Researcher Fellow at the University of California, San Diego.

Scientific Advisors

Ezra Cohen, M.D., FRCPSC, FASCO

Professor of Medicine, Division Chief Hematology/Oncology

Associate Director, Moores Cancer Center

University of California, San Diego

San Diego, CA, USA

Frederick G. Hayden, M.D., FACP

Stuart S. Richardson Professor Emeritus of Clinical Virology

University of Virginia School of Medicine

Professor Emeritus of Medicine

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Michael G. Ison, M.D., MS, FIDSA, FAST

Professor, Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Organ Transplantation

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Medical Director, Transplant & Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases Service

Northwestern University Comprehensive Transplant Center, Chicago, IL, USA

Johan A. Maertens, M.D., Ph.D., FECCM

Professor of Internal Medicine and Hematology, Acute Leukemia and Transplantation Unit

University Hospitals Leuven

Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation

KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Kieren Marr, M.D., M.B.A.

Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Business

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Carey Business School

Baltimore, MD, USA

Perry Nisen, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Quanta Therapeutics

San Francisco, CA, USA