Clearside Biomedical Appoints Nancy J. Hutson, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors

ALPHARETTA, Ga. ,  April 22, 2020  (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLSD), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and delivering treatments that restore and preserve vision for people with serious back of the eye diseases, announced today that  Nancy J. Hutson , Ph.D. has been appointed to the Company's Board of Directors, effective  April 21, 2020.

“The addition of Nancy Hutson to our Board of Directors comes at a key time as we are expanding our research and development pipeline and preparing to initiate a clinical program targeting the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration with CLS-AX,” said William Humphries, Chairman of the Clearside Board of Directors. “Nancy brings a deep understanding of the business coupled with an in-depth knowledge of research, drug development and dynamic business situations from her years of R&D leadership at Pfizer and extensive board service in a number of biopharmaceutical companies. We welcome Nancy and look forward to making further progress in achieving our strategic goals.” 

“I look forward to working with the Clearside team to leverage the Company’s proprietary suprachoroidal space injection platform,” said Dr. Hutson. “With a flexible treatment approach, unique R&D pipeline, multiple global partnerships, and a robust patent portfolio, Clearside has a compelling opportunity to make a difference for patients with back of the eye diseases and deliver value for shareholders.”

Nancy J. Hutson, Ph.D., is a highly accomplished healthcare executive with more than 30 years of experience as a seasoned research and development expert and leader within the biopharmaceutical industry. Dr. Hutson retired from Pfizer, Inc. in 2006 after spending 25 years in various research and leadership positions, serving as Senior Vice President, Pfizer Global Research and Development and Director of Pfizer's pharmaceutical R&D site, known as Groton/New London Laboratories. At Pfizer, she led 4,500 colleagues and managed a budget in excess of $1 billion. Dr. Hutson is currently a board member of Endo International, plc (ENDP), BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BCRX) and PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc (PHAS). She serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees at Illinois Wesleyan University. Dr. Hutson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. degree from Vanderbilt University. She completed a Postdoctoral fellowship in Biochemistry at University of Oxford.

About Clearside Biomedical

Clearside Biomedical, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and delivering treatments that restore and preserve vision for people with serious back of the eye diseases. Clearside’s proprietary SCS Microinjector® targeting the suprachoroidal space (SCS®) offers unique access to the macula, retina and choroid where sight-threatening disease often occurs. The Company’s SCS injection platform is an inherently flexible, in-office, non-surgical procedure, intended to provide targeted delivery to the site of disease and to work with both established and new formulations of medications, as well as future therapeutic innovations such as gene therapy. For more information, please visit www.clearsidebio.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by words such as “believe”, “expect”, “may”, “plan”, “potential”, “will”, and similar expressions, and are based on Clearside’s current beliefs and expectations. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the potential of the suprachoroidal injection platform and the advancement of Clearside’s research and development programs. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially include uncertainties inherent in the conduct of clinical trials, Clearside’s reliance on third parties over which it may not always have full control, and other risks and uncertainties that are described in Clearside’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 13, 2020, and Clearside’s other Periodic Reports filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on information available to Clearside as of the date of this release, and Clearside assumes no obligation to, and does not intend to, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.