Pappas Capital Announces the Passing of…

DURHAM, N.C., July 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, announced today the appointment of Thomas P. Mathers, 44, as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Mathers has more than 19 years of executive management, sales and marketing experience in the life sciences and medical device industry. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and as chairman of Declion Pharmaceuticals, a company which he co-founded. Prior to CoLucid, he served as president and CEO of Peptimmune, Inc. from 2003 to 2011. Founding CEO, James F. White, Ph.D. will continue his involvement with CoLucid as scientific director.

"Tom has extensive leadership skills and brings valuable strategic, operational and transactional experience to our team at a key inflection point in the company's growth and development," said Art Pappas, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and managing partner at Pappas Ventures. "Tom will lead the CoLucid team in formulating our phase 3 development and commercialization plans for lasmiditan," he added.

During his career, Mr. Mathers has also held positions as president and CEO of Cell Based Delivery; vice president and general manager of Cardion AG; vice president of Strategic Development at Genzyme; and management positions at Snowden-Pencer and Pfizer, Inc. He holds several patents and patents pending and earned his BS in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was a Dean's List student and three-year starter on the football team as a defensive end. From 1988 to 1991 he served as captain in the United States Army and was awarded several medals for his services as an AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot in the Gulf War in the XVIII Airborne Corps.

"I am excited to join the CoLucid team and complete the development of lasmiditan, our breakthrough first in class treatment for acute migraine. This is an area of significant unmet need since many of the currently approved therapies have unwanted side effects and are contraindicated in some patients," said Mr. Mathers.

About CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CoLucid was founded in August 2005 by Pappas Ventures to advance innovative drug candidates with the potential to provide safe and effective treatment for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company's investors include Pappas Ventures, Domain Associates, Care Capital, Pearl Street Venture Funds and Triathlon Medical Ventures. The company's pipeline includes lasmiditan (COL-144), a novel treatment for migraine headache, and a conjugated stigmine platform that has generated a series of preclinical candidates for the treatment of sleep/wake disorders, chronic pain, Alzheimer's disease and psychiatric disorders. For more information, please visit CoLucid at www.colucid.com.