Stoke Therapeutics Appoints Jason Hoitt as Chief Commercial Officer
– Mr. Hoitt brings more than two decades of successful commercial experience with an emphasis on rare diseases –
Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STOK), a biotechnology company dedicated to addressing the underlying cause of severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicines, today announced the appointment of Jason Hoitt as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Hoitt has more than 20 years of experience successfully planning and executing commercial strategies at leading biopharma companies. As Chief Commercial Officer and a member of Stoke's leadership team, Mr. Hoitt will be responsible for overseeing the Company's global commercial strategy for STK-001. Recently announced data support the potential for STK-001 to be the first disease-modifying medicine for the treatment of Dravet syndrome.
"Jason brings deep expertise and a proven track record in successfully driving commercial strategies for novel new medicines and accelerating growth for companies as they transition to the commercial stage," said Edward M. Kaye, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Stoke Therapeutics. "Jason's experience building and leading teams, particularly in the area of rare disease, comes at the perfect time for Stoke as we plan for our registrational study of STK-001 and set our sights on the future where we aim to deliver the first potential disease-modifying medicine to patients with Dravet syndrome."
"The recent data from the studies of STK-001 suggest that Stoke has the opportunity to change the way Dravet syndrome is treated by targeting the underlying cause of the disease, not just the symptoms," said Mr. Hoitt. "I have been fortunate to have worked on some incredibly important advances in the treatment of severe diseases and look forward to bringing that experience and passion to Stoke. I am excited by the opportunity to build on the strong foundation of scientific innovation and clinical execution as we prepare the company to successfully conduct a registrational study and commercialize STK-001 and other potential new medicines in the future."
Prior to joining Stoke, Mr. Hoitt served as Chief Commercial Officer at Provention Bio and led all commercial efforts including pre-launch and launch strategy and execution for Tzield® (teplizumab-mzwv), the first drug approved to address the underlying autoimmune cause of type 1 diabetes. Prior to Provention Bio, Mr. Hoitt served as Chief Commercial Officer at Dova Pharmaceuticals and led all commercial efforts including launch strategy and execution for DOPTELET® (avatrombopag) for chronic immune thrombocytopenia. Prior to Dova Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Hoitt was a member of the commercial leadership team at Insmed Incorporated, serving as a Vice President and Head of Sales. Mr. Hoitt also held senior sales, marketing and medical affairs roles at Sarepta Therapeutics, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences. Mr. Hoitt has held integral roles in the launch of several innovative medicines, including Arikayce (Insmed), Exondys 51 (Sarepta), and Incivek (Vertex). Mr. Hoitt holds a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross.
Effective on April 15, 2024, Stoke granted Mr. Hoitt a stock option to purchase an aggregate of 265,000 shares of common stock, as a material inducement to his employment in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
The stock option that was granted has an exercise price of $12.21 per share, which is equal to the closing price of Stoke's common stock on April 15, 2024. The option will vest over a 4-year period, with 1/4th of the shares underlying the option vesting on the one-year anniversary of the applicable vesting commencement date and the remaining shares thereafter vesting monthly at a rate of 1/48th of the shares underlying the option over the following 36 months, subject to Mr. Hoitt's continued employment with Stoke on such vesting dates. The option has a term of 10 years and is subject to the terms and conditions of the 2023 Inducement Plan and the stock option agreement covering the grant.
About Stoke Therapeutics
Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK), is a biotechnology company dedicated to addressing the underlying cause of severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicines. Using Stoke's proprietary TANGO (Targeted Augmentation of Nuclear Gene Output) approach, Stoke is developing antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to selectively restore protein levels. Stoke's first compound, STK-001, is in clinical testing for the treatment of Dravet syndrome, a severe and progressive genetic epilepsy. Dravet syndrome is one of many diseases caused by a haploinsufficiency, in which a loss of ~50% of normal protein levels leads to disease. Stoke is pursuing the development of STK-002 for the treatment of autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA), the most common inherited optic nerve disorder. Stoke's initial focus is haploinsufficiencies and diseases of the central nervous system and the eye, although proof of concept has been demonstrated in other organs, tissues, and systems, supporting its belief in the broad potential for its proprietary approach. Stoke is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://www.stoketherapeutics.com/.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the ability of STK-001 to treat the underlying cause of Dravet syndrome, and the timing and expected progress of clinical trials, regulatory decisions and successful development of STK-001. Statements including words such as "will," "expect," "plan," and "potential" and statements in the future tense are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions, which, if they prove incorrect or do not fully materialize, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: the Company's ability to advance, obtain regulatory approval of, and ultimately commercialize its product candidates, including STK-001; positive results in a clinical trial may not be replicated in subsequent trials; successes in early stage trials may not be predictive of results in later stage trials; the Company's ability to fund development activities and achieve development goals; and other risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and the other documents it files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
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