CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cerevel Therapeutics, (Nasdaq: CERE), a company dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the brain to treat neuroscience diseases, today announced the appointment of Scott M. Akamine as chief legal officer, effective May 24, 2021. An accomplished legal executive, Mr. Akamine brings significant healthcare and biopharmaceutical experience to the role. He joins Cerevel from AEON Biopharma, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, where he served as general counsel and corporate secretary, overseeing legal and certain administrative functions, including business development, corporate governance, intellectual property, and compliance. 

“Scott has an impressive track record as a legal executive and brings to Cerevel extensive experience guiding companies through periods of significant growth,” said Tony Coles, M.D., chairperson and chief executive officer of Cerevel Therapeutics. “His legal acumen, together with a proven ability to drive key business priorities, will be essential for Cerevel as we continue on our journey to bring new, effective therapies to those suffering from neuroscience diseases.”

“I am honored to join Cerevel and have the opportunity to make a tremendous difference in the lives of millions of patients facing Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and other neuroscience diseases,” said Mr. Akamine. “I look forward to joining this outstanding team and supporting Cerevel as it seeks to transform what is possible in neuroscience.”

About Scott M. Akamine
Scott is an accomplished biopharmaceutical legal executive with experience guiding growth strategies through complex competitive, legal, and regulatory landscapes. He served most recently as general counsel and corporate secretary of AEON Biopharma, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, overseeing legal and certain administrative functions, including business development, corporate governance, intellectual property, and compliance. Prior to AEON, Scott was the associate general counsel and interim general counsel at CoreLogic, Inc. and general counsel and corporate secretary at Incipio, LLC. He also held legal roles of escalating responsibility at Allergan, Inc. until the company was acquired by Actavis plc. 

Scott began his legal career as a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins. He earned his B.A. from Chapman University and his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law, where he graduated with honors.

About Cerevel Therapeutics
Cerevel Therapeutics is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the brain to treat neuroscience diseases. The company is tackling diseases with a targeted approach to neuroscience that combines expertise in neurocircuitry with a focus on receptor selectivity. Cerevel Therapeutics has a diversified pipeline comprising five clinical-stage investigational therapies and several pre-clinical compounds with the potential to treat a range of neuroscience diseases, including Parkinson’s, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and substance use disorder. Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Cerevel Therapeutics is advancing its current research and development programs while exploring new modalities through internal research efforts, external collaborations, or potential acquisitions. For more information, visit www.cerevel.com.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this press release, we caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about our potential to introduce new therapies to patients and the potential attributes and benefits of our product candidates. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, if the forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. Actual performance and results may differ materially from those projected or suggested in the forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties, including, those under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 24, 2021 and our subsequent SEC filings. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the extent required by applicable law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Media Contact:
Kate Contreras
W2O/Real Chemistry
kcontreras@realchemistry.com

Investor Contact:
Matthew Calistri
Cerevel Therapeutics
matthew.calistri@cerevel.com