Prothena Announces Appointment of Chief Commercial Officer

DUBLIN, Ireland, Feb. 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA), a late-stage clinical biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel protein immunotherapies, announced today the appointment of David B. McNinch as Chief Commercial Officer.

The creation of this new senior management position with responsibility for shaping and delivering an integrated global commercial strategy reflects Prothena's continuing evolution from a development stage company to an integrated commercial organization.

"David has an extensive commercial background that spans pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including global commercial launch experience across multiple therapeutic areas in both large and rare diseases," said Dale Schenk, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Prothena. "David joins Prothena at a time when we are beginning to plan for the commercialization of our lead clinical compound NEOD001 for the potential treatment of patients with AL amyloidosis.  We are pleased to welcome him to Prothena and look forward to having his strategic commercial leadership strengthen our management team."

Mr. McNinch is a seasoned biotechnology executive with more than 20 years of experience of commercializing new therapies. Prior to joining Prothena, Mr. McNinch was Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at InterMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was responsible for building the US Commercial infrastructure and successfully launching Esbriet® (pirfenidone), until InterMune was acquired by Roche. Prior to InterMune, Mr. McNinch was Vice President of Marketing and Managed Markets for Ipsen, Inc., and has held various senior sales and marketing positions at Affymax, Genentech, Novartis and AstraZeneca. 

Mr. McNinch earned his BS in Marketing from the University of South Carolina.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a late-stage clinical biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel protein immunotherapies for the potential treatment of diseases that involve amyloid or cell adhesion. The company is developing antibody-based product candidates that target a number of potential indications including AL amyloidosis (NEOD001), Parkinson's disease and other related synucleinopathies (PRX002), and psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases (PRX003).

For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.prothena.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements.  These statements relate to, among other things, our contemplated commercialization of NEOD001; and our expectations regarding our Chief Commercial Officer's contributions to Prothena. These statements are based on estimates, projections and assumptions that may prove not to be accurate, and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including but not limited to the risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the "Risk Factors" sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 13, 2015, our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2015 to be filed with the SEC. Prothena undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or changes in Prothena's expectations.

Contacts

Investors: Tran Nguyen, CFO
650-837-8535, IR@prothena.com

Media: Ellen Rose
650-922-2405, ellen.rose@prothena.com