SAN DIEGO – June 6, 2016 – Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (“Crinetics”), an innovative therapeutics company focused on specialty endocrine disorders, announced today the addition of Ajay Madan, Ph.D., D.A.B.T. as Vice President, Development.

“We continue to strategically assemble a world-class team with deep expertise in discovering and developing innovative therapeutics,” said Scott Struthers, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Crinetics. “I am thrilled to be working with such an accomplished drug developer once again and will rely on his expertise as we transform Crinetics into a clinical-stage therapeutics company.”

Dr. Madan was most recently Vice President of Preclinical Development at Neurocrine Biosciences. He was responsible for bioanalytical analysis, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and clinical pharmacology in support of a number of drug discovery and development programs. He also initiated and led the vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) inhibitor program for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia, resulting in the discovery of a best-in-class compound, valbenazine. Valbenazine has demonstrated efficacy and safety in Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials and was awarded fast-track status and breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA. Prior to Neurocrine, Dr. Madan was the Chief Scientific Officer at XenoTech L.L.C., a research company that pioneered the development and implementation of many of the current in vitro drug-drug interaction platforms routinely employed by pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Madan is an author of more than 50 scientific publications, and has been a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology since 2005. He holds a B. Pharm. degree from the Birla Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Kansas.

Crinetics is advancing a pipeline of novel, internally-discovered therapeutics. Its leading program is the development of a small molecule somatostatin agonist for the treatment of acromegaly. Acromegaly is an endocrine disorder caused by over-secretion of growth hormone that affects at least 20,000 individuals in the U.S.

“It’s exciting to join the company at such a crucial time as we prepare to move our first program into the clinic,” said Dr. Madan. “Having already worked with Scott and the other Crinetics co-founders to advance multiple molecules successfully into and through clinical development, including elagolix for the treatment of endometriosis, I am confident in our ability to see this program through.”