Curis CEO Addresses Frequently Asked Questions
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 15, 2002--The following is a letter from Daniel R. Passeri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS - news), in response to our recent news announcement concerning Curis' corporate realignment and to answer shareholders' most frequently asked questions. Many of these answers have been abbreviated or condensed for the sake of brevity. Shareholders are referred to the Company's recent Form 8-K filing and Form 10-Q (Annual and Quarterly Reports filed with the SEC); press releases. Curis' Website, www.curis.com, which is currently being updated, will incorporate the specifics of the realignment. Additional questions can be answered through the company's corporate communication and investor relations office at 1-617-503-6500.
Dear Shareholders and Employees:
Since becoming CEO, I have carefully evaluated the assets obtained through the merger of the three companies that became Curis. In October 2001, our team began consolidating the focus of the company by selecting areas of research and programs to create value and return on investment for shareholders.
Curis, Inc. is generating therapies that regulate the pathways used by the body to maintain and restore health. The company focuses on signaling pathways that govern the proliferation and differentiation of cells. These same pathways control maintenance, repair, and regeneration of tissues and organs from infancy through old age. This approach has created an approved product for bone regeneration and enables Curis to build a portfolio of product candidates in neurology, kidney disease, and cancer.
Q: Why has Curis decided to take this direction with its clinical programs?
A: Curis wants to consolidate its efforts and focus on the development of drugs based on signaling pathways, which will bring shareholder value in both near and long term. This has led to the reevaluation of the programs based on expertise, competitive advantage, and cost. Cell therapy is a field with an enormous long-term potential, but clinical trials are expensive and require significant capacities. Curis does not want to lose the opportunity to profit from this field and desires to partner this unit. Regarding our focus on stem cells, we will keep pioneering the field and leverage our expertise to exploit this asset as a biological system to extract valuable pathway information that supports the drug discovery and development efforts of Curis.
Q: How does this consolidation of focus realign assets within Curis? Will this delay the time to profitability?
A: The consolidation accelerates our time to profitability. Focusing on BMP and Hh signaling pathways development programs will accomplish several things.
Optimize Curis' scientific expertise in key signaling pathways.
Focus and strengthen the company's competitive position.
Allow for greater resources to be allocated for programs that have much greater market opportunities and accelerate time lines by reducing net burn from other existing programs.
Improve our financial condition providing Curis with enhanced stability that allows us to more effectively manage our future profitability.
Q: Where will Curis be focusing its development efforts in the near-term?
A: Curis, Inc. is generating therapies that regulate the pathways used by the body to maintain and restore health. Curis plans to develop therapeutic applications for the BMP and Hedgehog signaling pathways and associated factors through the pre-clinical stage. We will partner with pharmaceutical companies to develop these therapeutics through the clinic. Curis' validated approach of using the body's own repair mechanisms has created an approved product for bone regeneration and has enabled the company to build a portfolio of product candidates in neurology, kidney disease, and cancer.
Q: Who will assume the roles of COO and CFO, and when does Curis plan to replace management positions?
A: Under our new structure we no longer need a COO, and we are in the final stages of evaluating candidates for the CFO position.
Q. How does this change reflect on Curis' cash position:
A. Curis currently has both product and partnering revenues. This realignment will serve to improve Curis' cash position by reducing the net burn rate and currently projects that it has sufficient capital to operate into the fourth quarter of 2003.
Q: When will Curis' next Annual Meeting of Shareholders be held, and where will it be held?
A: June 12, 2002, at the offices of Hale & Dorr, 60 State Street, Boston, MA. Time to be announced.
Curis will hold a conference call on Friday, February 15, 2002, beginning at 9:00 a.m. EST. The conference call can be accessed by dialing 800-621-5175 (domestic) or 212-346-0335 (international) and asking for the Curis conference call. A telephone replay of the call will be available starting February 15, 11:00 a.m. EST through February 22, 11:00a.m. EST and can be accessed by calling 1-800-633-8284 (domestic) or 858-812-6440 (international). The replay access code will be 20358127.
About Curis, Inc.
Curis, Inc. is generating therapies that regulate the pathways used by the body to maintain and restore health. The company focuses on signaling pathways that govern the proliferation and differentiation of cells. These same pathways control maintenance, repair, and regeneration of tissues and organs from infancy through old age. This approach has created an approved product for bone regeneration and enables Curis to build a portfolio of product candidates in neurology, kidney disease, and cancer. For more information, please visit the Curis web site at www.curis.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements address a variety of subjects, including, for example, cost savings, cash burn rate, operating capital requirements, operating efficiencies, strategic collaboration efforts and product development efforts. Statements in this press release that state Curis' or management's intentions, plans, expectations or predictions of future events are forward-looking statements. The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties that may cause Curis' actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The following important factors and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: Curis' need for partnerships to move forward its cell therapy programs, the early stage of product development of Curis' retained programs, uncertainties related to clinical trials, uncertainties related to Curis' ability to raise additional capital, changes in or an inability to execute Curis' realigned business strategy and other risk factors described from time to time in Curis' periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, Curis' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 filed on March 30, 2001 and the Company's Post Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form S-3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 10, 2001. Curis cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover, neither Curis nor anyone else assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any forward-looking statements. Curis undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
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Contact:
Curis, Inc.
Henry W. McCusker, (617-503-6641)
or
Noonan/Russo Communications
Melissa Wainberg, (212) 696-4455 x 220 |
