Arcutis Appoints Patrick Burnett, M.D., Ph.D., FAAD, as Chief Medical Officer

• Experienced industry leader to head Arcutis’ clinical development programs
  
• Appointment aligns with Arcutis’ strategy of building a team with deep dermatology expertise
• Howard Welgus, M.D., FAAD to retire; elected to Arcutis’ Board of Directors

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQT), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for unmet needs in immune-mediated dermatological diseases and conditions, or immuno-dermatology, today announced the appointment of Patrick Burnett, M.D., Ph.D., FAAD, as Chief Medical Officer, effective August 1. Dr. Burnett replaces Howard Welgus, M.D., FAAD, who is retiring from Arcutis, but will continue as a strategic advisor to the Company, and has been elected to the company’s Board of Directors. 

“We are delighted to welcome Patrick to the Arcutis team,” said Frank Watanabe, Arcutis’ President and Chief Executive Officer. “His outstanding experience in the development and commercialization of innovative dermatology products will be invaluable to Arcutis as we advance our lead drug candidate through late-stage clinical trials and into regulatory approval to treat inflammatory dermatological conditions. We are fortunate to have his clinical leadership as we continue to execute upon our bold strategy to become the preeminent innovation-driven medical dermatology company.”

“I am excited to be joining Arcutis at this important point in the company’s evolution,” said Dr. Burnett.  “With a pipeline of four potentially best-in-class topical therapies, Arcutis is positioned to meaningfully advance patient care in dermatology.” 

Dr. Burnett joins Arcutis from Verrica Pharmaceuticals, where he was Chief Medical Officer from April 2018 to July 2020, and where he oversaw the Phase 3 program and new drug application (NDA) submission for VP-102.  He previously was Associate Vice President of Clinical Development at Sun Pharmaceuticals from September 2015 to March 2018, where he led the biologics license application (BLA) submission for Ilumya for psoriasis in the U.S. and Europe, and oversaw their dermatology and rheumatology pipeline. Prior to Sun, Dr. Burnett worked at Novartis from 2010 to August 2015, most recently as Global Program Medical Director, where he was involved in the approval of Cosentyx for psoriasis in the U.S.  He is a board certified dermatologist and was a member of the medical faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as an Assistant Professor of Dermatology from 2004 to 2010. Dr. Burnett holds an M.D. and Ph.D. in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a B.S. in Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Iowa.