Prothena Announces Appointment of Tran B. Nguyen as Chief Operating Officer

DUBLIN, Ireland, June 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies in the neuroscience category, today announced that Tran B. Nguyen has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer, in addition to serving in his current role as Chief Financial Officer.

"Tran's strong leadership, combined with his expert financial background and biotech industry experience, have been instrumental to our ability to advance our business," said Gene Kinney, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Prothena. "He is adding to his responsibilities at an important time for Prothena and we look forward to his strategic contribution and leadership as we continue to focus on developing new medicines to improve the lives of patients."

"My time with Prothena has been a unique opportunity to work with an exceptional team and I am excited about this new role as we continue to advance a broad pipeline of neuroscience programs," said Tran Nguyen, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Prothena.

Mr. Nguyen joined Prothena in 2013 as Chief Financial Officer and has more than 20 years of finance experience in the biotech, banking and private equity industries.  Prior to joining Prothena, he held management positions at Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as was its Chief Financial Officer until its sale in 2013. Previously, Mr. Nguyen was Vice President, Chief Financial Officer at Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc., until its sale in 2010.  Mr. Nguyen currently serves on the board of directors of Sierra Oncology, Inc., a public clinical-stage oncology company and Rain Therapeutics Inc., a private clinical-stage oncology company. Mr. Nguyen received his BA in Economics and Psychology from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management. 

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies with the potential to fundamentally change the course of progressive, life-threatening diseases in the neuroscience category. Fueled by its deep scientific understanding built over decades of neuroscience research, Prothena is advancing a pipeline of therapeutic candidates for a number of indications and novel targets including Parkinson's disease and other related synucleinopathies (PRX002/RG7935) and ATTR amyloidosis (PRX004), as well as tau, Abeta (Amyloid beta) and TDP-43 where its scientific understanding of disease pathology can be leveraged. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.prothena.com and follow us on Twitter @ProthenaCorp. 

Media and Investor Contact:

Ellen Rose, Head of Communications
650-922-2405, ellen.rose@prothena.com