Skye Bioscience Appoints Deborah Charych, PhD to Board of Directors

 Source:  Skye Bioscience, Inc. 2/16/2023

Skye Bioscience, Inc. (OTCQB: SKYE) ("Skye" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical company developing a proprietary, synthetic cannabinoid derivative to treat glaucoma, has appointed Dr. Deborah Charych to its board of directors effective immediately. Dr. Charych is a biotech professional with over two decades of scientific leadership and drug development experience.

Dr. Charych is a co-founder and former chief technology officer of RayzeBio, an oncology company focused on targeted delivery of radionuclides. She conceived and led the scientific and operational R&D strategy for RayzeBio, which led to a successful $45M Series A financing and launch in August, 2020, and subsequent Series B, C and D rounds, with capital raised amounting to $418M.

Previously, at Nektar Therapeutics Dr. Charych conceived and led the preclinical and early clinical development of an immuno-oncology pipeline, leading to a $1.8B upfront deal with Bristol Myers Squibb. She also contributed to basic research exploring GPCR receptor biology including the cannabinoid receptor system. At FivePrime Therapeutics, Deborah led a team developing biologics for oncology and autoimmune diseases. While at Chiron Corporation she initiated and led a large proteomics effort to guide oncology target discovery. At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, she led an academic team as a tenured principal investigator, focusing on new biomaterials.

Dr. Charych has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and a B.S. in Chemistry from Carnegie-Mellon University.

"Deborah's deep scientific expertise and accomplishment is matched by a strong appreciation of the business imperatives of life science development, including capital market dynamics. We expect that her passion for our programs but independent and critical voice will be a valuable contribution to our board's guidance of Skye's R&D and business planning," said Punit Dhillon, CEO and Chair of Skye.

About Skye Bioscience
Skye Bioscience is a pharmaceutical company unlocking the potential of cannabinoids through the development of its proprietary cannabinoid derivatives to treat diseases with significant unmet needs. The Company's lead drug candidate, SBI-100 Ophthalmic Emulsion, is a CB1R agonist delivered topically into the eye, is focused on developing a treatment for glaucoma, the world's leading cause of irreversible blindness.