ClearPoint Neuro, Inc. Announces Expansion of Pre-Clinical and Translational Development Team to Support Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Partners

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClearPoint Neuro, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLPT), a global therapy-enabling platform company providing navigation and delivery to the brain, today announced that Ernesto Salegio, PhD will join the Company as Vice President, Segment Leader Translational and Pre-Clinical Research as part of ClearPoint’s Biologics and Drug Delivery team on March 1, 2021. Dr. Salegio brings over 19 years of experience in translational neuroscience with direct pre-clinical central nervous system (CNS) expertise in the delivery of therapeutics to the brain and spinal cord, including over 16 years of gene therapy experience working with adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV).

ClearPoint Neuro’s Biologics and Drug Delivery team was established in 2020 to provide turn-key medical device innovation, therapy delivery development and clinical services customized for both pharmaceutical and academic partners working on gene and stem cell therapies to the brain. This team also offers comprehensive services to help its partners navigate existing regulatory guidance and stay abreast of anticipated changes to guidance that will inevitably come.

“Our current and prospective partners working on gene and stem cell therapies have an enormous unmet need for pre-clinical support,” commented Jeremy Stigall, Vice President, Biologics & Drug Delivery Development. “Ernesto’s extensive pre-clinical expertise in the intraparenchymal administration of therapeutics under image-guidance, as well into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), will allow ClearPoint to add crucial translational consulting services for our biologics partners. When we establish relationships with pharmaceutical partners well before the clinic, ClearPoint products and services can be incorporated throughout the entire development process, delivering consistent, predictable performance, and providing government agencies assurance that the navigation and delivery platform will remain constant from bench-to-bedside. We aim to become their comprehensive medical device partner, allowing them to focus on more traditional pharmaceutical challenges, while ClearPoint delivers state-of-the-art medical device and therapy delivery.”

“I am thrilled to become a member of the ClearPoint team,” commented Dr. Salegio. “After spending almost two decades focusing on translational research, image-guided delivery protocols, complex surgical procedures and in the development of CNS therapies, I am delighted to drive the expansion of ClearPoint’s capabilities. I am eager to leverage their current pre-clinical and clinical portfolio, as well as to their pipeline of innovative tools on the horizon, to provide customized solutions to current and future ClearPoint pharmaceutical partners.”

About ClearPoint Neuro

ClearPoint Neuro’s mission is to improve and restore quality of life to patients and their families by enabling therapies for the most complex neurological disorders with pinpoint accuracy. Applications of the Company’s current product portfolio include deep-brain stimulation, laser ablation, biopsy, neuro-aspiration, and delivery of drugs, biologics, and gene therapy to the brain. The ClearPoint Neuro Navigation System has FDA clearance, is CE-marked, and is installed in over 60 active clinical sites in the United States and the EU. The Company’s SmartFlow® cannula is being used in partnership or evaluation with 25 individual biologics and drug delivery companies in various stages from preclinical research to late-stage regulatory trials. To date, more than 4,000 cases have been performed and supported by the Company’s field-based clinical specialist team which offers support and services for our partners. For more information, please visit www.clearpointneuro.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements herein concerning the Company’s plans, growth and strategies may include forward-looking statements within the context of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding the Company's future events, developments and future performance, as well as management's expectations, beliefs, plans, estimates or projections relating to the future, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws. Uncertainties and risks may cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by forward-looking statements. Particular uncertainties and risks include those relating to the impact of COVID-19 and the measures adopted to contain its spread; future revenues from sales of the Company’s ClearPoint Neuro Navigation System products; the Company’s ability to market, commercialize and achieve broader market acceptance for the Company’s ClearPoint Neuro Navigation System products; and estimates regarding the sufficiency of the Company’s cash resources. More detailed information on these and additional factors that could affect the Company’s actual results are described in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, and the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2020, both of which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31 2020, which the Company intends to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or before March 31, 2021.