ROCKVILLE, Md., March 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: RNN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies to improve patient outcomes in cancers that are difficult to treat, today announced the appointment of Lara S. Sullivan, M.D. to its board of directors.

Dr. Sullivan will chair a newly formed business development committee, which has been established to assist the board with its oversight of Rexahn’s business development activities with the goal of maximizing the value of the company’s current and future development programs. Dr. Sullivan will also serve on the nominating and corporate governance committee.

“We are pleased to add Lara to the Rexahn board. She brings a depth of experience that we believe will add significant value to our board and Company,” said Peter Brandt, chairman of the board of directors.

Dr. Sullivan added, “I am honored to join the Rexahn board and look forward to bringing my clinical strategy, financial, and operational experience and expertise to serve Rexahn’s board and management.”

Lara Sullivan brings more than two decades of experience and senior leadership in biopharmaceuticals, healthcare and life sciences, to Rexahn. Dr. Sullivan is a founder and from 2017 to 2018 served as president of SpringWorks Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Prior to joining SpringWorks Therapeutics, Dr. Sullivan served as a vice president of Pfizer from 2011 to 2017. While at Pfizer she helmed strategy and portfolio operations for the company’s early-stage pipeline and led the work, inside Pfizer and with outside patient groups and partners, to create SpringWorks Therapeutics. Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Sullivan was an associate principal in the pharmaceutical and medical products practice at McKinsey & Company, where she advised biopharmaceutical clients on a variety of strategic and operational issues, with a particular emphasis on research and development productivity. Dr. Sullivan also served as a principal at Paul Capital Partners, where she led due diligence for investments in their healthcare fund, and earlier in her career worked in healthcare equity research and municipal finance at Credit Suisse First Boston. Dr. Sullivan holds an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in comparative literature from Cornell University.

About Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE American: RNN) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies to improve patient outcomes in cancers that are difficult to treat. The company's mission is to improve the lives of cancer patients by developing next-generation cancer therapies that are designed to maximize efficacy while minimizing the toxicity and side effects traditionally associated with cancer treatment. Rexahn's product candidates work by targeting and neutralizing specific proteins believed to be involved in the complex biological cascade that leads to cancer cell growth. Preclinical studies show that certain of Rexahn's product candidates may be effective against multiple types of cancer, including drug resistant cancers, and difficult-to-treat cancers, and others may augment the effectiveness of current FDA-approved cancer treatments. The company has two oncology product candidates, RX-3117 and RX-5902, in Phase 2 clinical development and additional compounds in preclinical development including RX-0301. For more information about the Company and its oncology programs, please visit www.rexahn.com.