TARIS Appoints Sarma Duddu as President and CEO

-- Accomplished Pharmaceutical Executive --

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TARIS Biomedical, a specialty pharmaceutical company pioneering the field of drug-device convergence for targeted therapies, announced that Sarma Duddu, Ph.D. has been named President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately.

“TARIS has truly novel drug-device convergence product candidates in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical need, and I am excited to accept this opportunity to take TARIS to the next stage of its development”

“We are extremely pleased that Sarma Duddu has joined TARIS as the Chief Executive Officer. Sarma is a highly accomplished drug developer with significant expertise in drug delivery and is ideally suited to lead the company as it develops its products for genitourinary indications.” said Michael Cima, Ph.D., co-Founder, MIT Professor.

Dr. Duddu comes to TARIS Biomedical with more than 15 years of pharmaceutical experience and has been involved in all aspects of the drug delivery business. Most recently, he held the position of General Manager and Vice President of Worldwide Drug Delivery Technologies of CIMA LABS, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cephalon, Inc (NASDAQ:CEPH). Prior to Cephalon, Dr. Duddu served as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development at Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) (formerly Inhale Therapeutic Systems), a leading drug delivery company based in San Carlos, CA. Prior to Nektar, he worked at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, where he focused in the areas of pharmaceutical technology, formulation sciences and product development. Dr. Duddu earned a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelors degree in Pharmacy from Andhra University in Waltair, India.

“TARIS has truly novel drug-device convergence product candidates in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical need, and I am excited to accept this opportunity to take TARIS to the next stage of its development,” said Sarma Duddu, Ph.D., President and CEO, TARIS Biomedical.

About TARIS Biomedical

TARIS Biomedical Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company with deep domain expertise in therapeutics and drug-delivery, is focused on local minimally-invasive drug-device convergence products. The TARIS core technology and development efforts are being applied to disease areas with high unmet medical need in which current therapies or systemic treatments have failed. TARIS Biomedical is developing several drug-device convergence product opportunities focused on addressing underserved disease areas, with an initial focus on the genitourinary system, specifically for the treatment of bladder diseases. Based in Lexington, MA, TARIS Biomedical’s technology was developed by internationally renowned scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Robert Langer and Michael Cima, and is backed by leading venture capital firms Flagship Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Polaris Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.tarisbiomedical.com.