BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has appointed Helen Thackray to its board of directors, the company said in a statement Monday.

Thackray is a clinical rare disease expert and currently serves as chief medical officer and senior vice president of clinical development at GlycoMimetics. Prior to joining GlycoMimetics, Thackray was the vice president of clinical development at Biosynexus.

“With a deep pipeline of home-grown oral medicines for rare diseases, BioCryst is positioned to deliver dramatic improvements for patient care,” said Thackray in the statement. “I am excited to join BioCryst as the company makes the transition from clinical to commercial with its first rare disease program.”

The company is preparing to advance multiple clinical rare disease programs next year in addition to launching an oral product to patients, according to the statement.

BioCryst is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. The company focuses on orphan and autoimmune diseases as well as antivirals.

“As a physician and chief medical officer, Helen adds important, complementary and contemporary clinical rare disease experience to our board,” said Robert Ingram, chairman of BioCryst.

Shares of BioCryst were trading at $3.12 Tuesday, down 10 cents.