GERMANTOWN, Md., Sept. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neuralstem, Inc. (Nasdaq:CUR), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for nervous system diseases, today announced that Zhang Zhuo and Cristina Csimma, PharmD, MHP, have been appointed to its Board of Directors, effective September 18, 2017.

“I’m very pleased to welcome Mr. Zhang and Dr. Csimma to our Board,” said Rich Daly, Chairman and CEO. “Mr. Zhang joins us as Tianjin Pharmaceuticals’ appointee as agreed to in connection with their $20 million strategic investment in December of 2016. We very much value the support Tianjin has provided in the past year, and look forward to working with such a major multinational pharmaceutical enterprise further on the research and development of our innovative stem cell and small molecule platforms.”

“Dr. Csimma brings with her decades of senior leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry as well as a wealth of expertise in drug development. Her insights into corporate operations and capital raising will be immensely helpful to Neuralstem during this potentially transformative period for the company,” Mr. Daly continued.

Mr. Zhang is currently the Vice Director of International Cooperation for Tianjin Pharmaceuticals, which he joined in 2011. Mr. Zhang holds a Master of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics and International Business from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Cristina Csimma is the Executive Chair, Board of Directors for Exonics Therapeutics and is also a Board Member and Member of the Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees of Juniper Pharmaceuticals. She also serves on advisory boards including Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, the Muscular Dystrophy Association Venture Philanthropy Scientific Advisory Committee; the Executive Oversight Board to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) NeuroNext Network; the External Oversight Committee of NIH Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network, the Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital MRCT Center External Advisory Board, the Rockefeller University Robertson Therapeutic Development Fund Review Committee and the TREAT-NMD Advisory Committee for Therapeutics (TACT). She was previously a Board Director of Vtesse (acquired in March 2017 by Sucampo Pharmaceuticals) and Cydan, where she was also President and founding CEO, the Vice President of Drug Development at Virdante Pharmaceuticals Inc (acquired by Moderna), Principal at Clarus Ventures LLC, and held roles in Clinical Development and Translational Research at Wyeth (now Pfizer), Genetics Institute and Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Csimma holds both a Doctor of Pharmacy and a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences, as well as a Master of Health Professions from Northeastern University.

About Neuralstem Neuralstem is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for nervous system diseases of high unmet medical need. NSI-189 is a small molecule in clinical development for major depressive disorder (MDD) and in preclinical development for Angelman syndrome, irradiation-induced cognitive impairment, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and stroke.

NSI-566 is a stem cell therapy being tested for treatment of paralysis in stroke, chronic spinal cord injury (cSCI) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Neuralstem’s diversified portfolio of product candidates is based on its proprietary neural stem cell technology.