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BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Karuna Therapeutics , Inc. (NASDAQ: KRTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven to create and deliver transformative medicines for people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions, today announced the appointment of Will Kane as chief commercial officer (CCO), effective February 6, 2023. “The addition of Will to our executive team represents an important step as we execute on our plan to transition Karuna to a fully integrated R&D and commercial organization,” said Bill Meury, president and chief executive officer, Karuna Therapeutics. “Will is an exceptional leader and has extensive commercial operations experience, which will be invaluable as we focus our attention on the potential approval and launch of KarXT in schizophrenia.” “I could not be joining Karuna at a more exciting time for the company and important time for people living with schizophrenia and their friends and families,” said Will Kane. “I have been impressed with the work of the team to date, and I look forward to leading a commercial organization that may have an opportunity to truly change the treatment paradigm for one of the most debilitating serious mental health conditions.” Mr. Kane brings more than three decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He’s held senior level commercial positions at leading biopharma companies, Allergan, Pfizer, and Sepracor (now Sunovion Pharmaceuticals), and was an integral part of launching several successful brands, including CELEBREX® for the treatment of arthritis, NAMZARIC®‎ for Alzheimer’s disease, VRAYLAR® for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and UBRELVY™, the first oral calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) for the acute treatment of migraine. Most recently, he was the executive vice president and chief commercial officer at BioXcel Therapeutics. Mr. Kane holds a B.A. in Government from Connecticut College and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. About Karuna Karuna Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven to create and deliver transformative medicines for people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions. At Karuna, we understand there is a need for differentiated and more effective treatments that can help patients navigate the challenges presented by these severe and disabling disorders. Utilizing our extensive knowledge of neuroscience, we are harnessing the untapped potential of the brain in pursuit of novel pathways to develop medicines that make meaningful differences in peoples’ lives. For more information, please visit . Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding our goals to develop and commercialize our product candidates and other statements identified by words such as “could,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Forward looking statements are not promises or guarantees of future performance, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. These factors include risks related to our ability to generate positive clinical trial results for our product candidates and other risks inherent in clinical development, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals, changes in laws and regulations to which we are subject, competitive pressures, and other risks set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. Our actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by such forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.

A California federal appeals court on Thursday let AbbVie off the hook from a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the company held fraudulent patents on two Alzheimer’s drugs, therefore overcharging Medicare. The case traces back to a complaint filed by patent lawyer Zachary Silbersher back in 2018, accusing Allergan of withholding information from the Patent Trademark Office that may have led the agency to reject patents for Namenda XR and Namzaric, extended release drugs to treat Alzheimer’s-associated dementia. AbbVie swallowed Allergan for $63 billion in 2020. “Having wrongfully excluded generic competition, Defendants were able to and did charge monopoly prices for these drugs,” the complaint states. Plaintiffs argued that “each and every claim for payment or reimbursement for Namenda XR and Namzaric that would have been substituted for a less expensive generic equivalent . . . constituted a False Claim” that violated the False Claims Act. Silbersher filed a qui tam suit, which allows whistleblowers to bring lawsuits on behalf of the US under the FCA and share up to 30% of any government profits. However, the recent ruling in AbbVie’s favor ultimately came down to the FCA’s public disclosure bar, which prevents a whistleblower from “repackaging publicly disclosed information for personal profit.” AbbVie filed a motion to dismiss the suit in 2019, accusing plaintiffs of “copy and pasting” public information to form their argument. “Mr. Silbersher is not a corporate insider, and his complaints do not alert the government to unknown financial fraud. Instead, they regurgitate allegations that have long been in the public domain, without providing any information that is ‘independent of and materially adds to’ prior public disclosures,” the motion to dismiss states. “Parasitic lawsuits like these are tailor-made for dismissal under the FCA’s Public Disclosure Bar.” A US district court denied the motion to dismiss in 2020, deciding that the public disclosure bar did not apply. However, a panel of three appeals judges overturned that decision on Thursday, writing in their opinion that “the key factual information underlying Silbersher’s complaint was all publicly disclosed and much could be found in websites maintained by the PTO and other government agencies.” However, the judges did note that Silbersher may still bring his action forward if he is deemed an original source of the information in his complaint. “The panel expressed no view on whether relator still could bring his qui tam action because he was an ‘original source’ of the information in his complaint. The panel remanded to the district court for further proceedings,” court documents state.