Curanex Appoints Two Veteran Industry Leaders to Scientific Advisory Board
New Advisors Bring 50+ Years of Leadership Experience
With 2 of the Top 10 Global Pharmaceuticals Companies
Jericho, New York, March 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Curanex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: CURX) (“Curanex” or the “Company”), a development-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of botanical drugs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, today announced the appointment of two highly respected and accomplished life sciences research experts to the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board. Together, Dr. Daniel Pascheles and Dr. Nicholas A. Meanwell have contributed more than 75 years of total pharmaceuticals experience, including a combined 50 years at Merck & Co. and Bristol Meyers Squib.
Both Advisors will support all commercial strategy, product portfolio development and go-to-market decisions. Biographical experience for these two new advisors is as follows:
Daniel Pascheles, Ph.D.
Daniel Pascheles is a pharmaceutical executive and strategic consultant with over 25 years of experience building world-class competitive intelligence organizations within global life sciences companies. He is Former CEO and Partner at Molekule Consulting LLC, a firm he joined in 2017 to advise pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients on competitive strategy and market intelligence.
Prior to Molekule Consulting, Dr. Pascheles spent 12 years at Merck & Co./MSD as Vice President and Head of Global Competitive Intelligence. Before that, he held senior leadership roles over 14 years at Aventis and its predecessor companies (Hoechst Marion Roussel, Marion Merrell Dow), including Global Head of CI, European Head of Sales and Marketing Administration, European Head of Strategic Planning, and General Manager Switzerland.
Dr. Pascheles studied Pharmacy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and earned his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Technology from the same institution. He is Past-President and a current Board member of the Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence & Research Group (PBIRG), a member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) and the Licensing Executive Society (LES), and a Visiting Professor at Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid. He has served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Pharmaceutical Executive magazine and is a sought-after speaker and chairman at international conferences on competitive intelligence.
Nicholas A. Meanwell, Ph.D.
Nicholas A. Meanwell is a distinguished medicinal chemist and drug discovery scientist and a former vice president, who spent four decades at Bristol Myers Squibb (1982–2022), where he led programs across cardiovascular, neurosciences, and virology therapeutic areas. Over the course of his career, Dr. Meanwell and his team advanced 33 clinical candidates, including several that reached patients as approved medicines: the HIV-1 attachment inhibitor fostemsavir (Rukobia™), the HCV NS5A inhibitor daclatasvir (Daklinza™), the HCV NS3 protease inhibitor asunaprevir (Sunvepra™), and the combination product Xymency™.
Dr. Meanwell has authored or co-authored more than 300 publications, review articles, and book chapters, delivered over 250 invited lectures worldwide, and is named as inventor or co-inventor on 145 issued U.S. patents. He served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry from 2017 to 2023. His contributions to the field have been recognized with numerous prestigious honors, including the 2015 Philip S. Portoghese Medicinal Chemistry Lectureship Award, induction into the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame (2015), ACS "Heroes of Chemistry" Awards (2017, 2023), the 2022 Alfred Burger Award in Medicinal Chemistry, appointment as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2022), the 2024 Antonín Holý Memorial Award from the International Society for Antiviral Research, and the 2025 Scientific Achievement in Drug Discovery and Development Award from ASPET.
Dr. Meanwell earned his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield and completed his postdoctoral training with Professor Carl R. Johnson at Wayne State University.
Jun Liu, the Chief Executive Officer of Curanex, commented “We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Pascheles and Dr. Meanwell to the Curanex Scientific Advisory Board. Their knowledge and experience will add tremendous depth to our strategic decisions in the coming months as we strive to unlock the potential of our expanding product portfolio.”
About Curanex Pharmaceuticals Inc
Curanex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a developmental-stage pharmaceutical company headquartered in Jericho, New York, dedicated to discovering and developing botanical drugs for inflammatory diseases. Its lead candidate, Phyto-N, is a botanical extract from a single plant with proven anti-inflammatory properties that acts via multiple targets and mechanisms. Phyto-N has a long history of human use, having treated thousands of patients with inflammatory diseases over 30 years in China, demonstrating favorable tolerability.
The Company has validated Phyto-N's effects in animal models of six inflammatory diseases: ulcerative colitis, atopic dermatitis, COVID-19, diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and gout. The Company's primary development focus is moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. Phyto-N is currently advancing through FDA-required preclinical studies in preparation for an Investigational New Drug (IND) submission, with Phase I clinical trials targeted to initiate in the fourth quarter of 2026, pending completion of required studies and regulatory clearance.
For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.curanexpharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical fact in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” “is/are likely to” or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company’s registration statement and in its other filings with the SEC.
For more information, please contact:
Curanex Pharmaceuticals Inc
Attn: Liqin Xie, Chief Operating Officer
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