NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals Appoints Joseph Hooker as Interim Chief Executive Officer and President

NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on therapies for cardiometabolic diseases, today announced that it has appointed Joseph Hooker as Interim Chief Executive Officer and President.

Mr. Hooker’s appointment follows Gil Price, M.D.’s decision to retire from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer of NeuroBo. NeuroBo’s Board of Directors plans to initiate a candidate search with the assistance of a leading executive search firm to identify Dr. Price’s permanent successor.

“We are at an important stage in the evolution of NeuroBo, so we are pleased to have Joe serve as our President and CEO on an interim basis as we conduct a search for our next CEO,” said Andrew I. Koven, Chairman of the NeuroBo Board of Directors. “Joe’s experience and demonstrated leadership are an ideal fit for NeuroBo as we move our newly acquired assets, DA-1241 and DA-1726, into the next stages of clinical development and address the other strategies instrumental to NeuroBo’s success. We expect to benefit from Joe’s combination of clinical, business development and executive expertise, and his diverse experience working with a number of emerging and large biopharmaceutical companies.”

“On behalf of the NeuroBo Board of Directors, I also want to thank Gil for his contributions to NeuroBo during a transformative time in NeuroBo’s trajectory, in which we completed the acquisition of rights to DA-1241 and DA-1726, and solidified our financial position by completing a successful $32.3 million financing in November of 2022. Under Joe’s leadership, we are highly confident in the NeuroBo team’s ability to continue advancing our mission and achieving our long-term goals while executing on NeuroBo’s strategic priorities,” Mr. Koven concluded.

Joseph Hooker, Interim CEO and President, stated, “Looking ahead, it is an exciting time for NeuroBo as we continue to advance DA-1241 and DA-1726 through their next stages of clinical development. The acquisition of these two cardiometabolic assets marks a seismic shift for NeuroBo, providing NeuroBo with a highly promising, diversified pipeline with several upcoming value inflection points particularly in the exciting nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and obesity space — areas with enormous market opportunity, and I look forward to collaborating with the Board and NeuroBo’s partner, Dong-A ST Co. Ltd., on development of these newly acquired assets. We have an opportunity to make NeuroBo into a leader in development of treatments for NASH, along with obesity and type 2 diabetes, and our focus is to file the Phase 2a IND for DA-1241 NASH indication and preparation for IND filing of DA-1726 an obesity indication.”

“Over the past year, we have developed a clear vision and laid a strong foundation for the future of NeuroBo. I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to my team, our BOD, and our stockholders for their unwavering support during this exciting time,” said Dr. Price.