1 February 2019 - - Brian Pereira has been appointed to US-based pharmaceutical company KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: KALV) board of directors effective 1 February, the company said.

Pereira is a veteran biopharmaceutical and healthcare leader with experience in financing and growing companies. He has been president and CEO of Visterra Inc. since 2013 and previously served as president and CEO of AMAG Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to his role at AMAG, Pereira held senior roles at Tufts Medical Center including president and CEO of a Tufts Medical Center Physician Organization and interim COO.

Pereira is chairman of the board of directors of Africa Healthcare Network and of NephroPlus Ltd.

He has previously served on the board of several private and public companies, was the chairman of the board of the Harvard-MIT Biomedical Enterprise Program and president and Board member of the National Kidney Foundation.

Brian is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and has authored over 200 published scientific articles.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of small molecule protease inhibitors for diseases with significant unmet need.

The initial focus is on inhibitors of plasma kallikrein, which is an important component of the body's inflammatory response and which, in excess, can lead to increased vascular permeability, edema and inflammation.

KalVista has developed a proprietary portfolio of novel, small molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitors initially targeting hereditary angioedema and diabetic macular edema.

The company has created a structurally diverse portfolio of oral plasma kallikrein inhibitors and is advancing multiple drug candidates for HAE as well as DME.

The company has selected KVD900 as its program to be advanced as an on-demand therapy for HAE attacks, and commenced a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study in HAE patients in late 2018.

In DME, KalVista's most advanced programme, an intravitreally administered plasma kallikrein inhibitor known as KVD001, began a Phase 2 clinical trial in 2017 that is anticipated to complete in the second half of 2019.