Idera Announces Appointment of Joanna Horobin as Chief Medical Officer
November 18 2015 - 8:30AM
Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDRA), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing toll-like receptor and RNA
therapeutics for patients with cancer and rare diseases, today
announced the appointment of Joanna Horobin, M.B., Ch.B., as Senior
Vice President, Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Horobin was most
recently the Chief Medical Officer of Verastem, Inc. and previously
served as Chief Executive Officer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals. Dr.
Horobin’s appointment with Idera will commence on November 30,
2015.
“After an extensive search process, I am thrilled that we are
able to bring Joanna into Idera, where her impressive leadership
skills and experience are going to be essential in leading the many
programs we have through the development cycle; and ultimately into
beneficial therapeutic solutions for the patients we aim to serve,”
stated Vincent Milano, Idera’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are in
the midst of a critical period where the strategic pathways of our
clinical development programs are being crafted and I am extremely
confident Joanna will successfully lead these efforts as we move
forward. I also want to recognize James O’Leary, M.D. for the
outstanding job he did continuing our momentum in his capacity as
our interim Chief Medical Officer while we conducted the process to
fill this role permanently.”
Dr. Horobin has over 30 years of successful pharmaceutical
development experience. Prior to her positions at Verastem
and Syndax, she held several roles of increasing responsibility at
global pharmaceutical corporations such as Rhône-Poulenc Rorer (now
Sanofi) where she spearheaded the global Oncology business unit’s
launch which included the launches of Taxotere® (docetaxel) in
breast cancer and Campto/Camptosar® (CPT11) for colorectal
cancer. Dr. Horobin also led a successful joint venture with
Chugai to launch Granocyte® (lenograstim). Prior, Dr. Horobin
played significant leadership roles in the approvals of Lovenox®,
Celectol®, Augmentin®, Timentin®, temocillin, Bactroban® and
Relafen®/Reliflex®. Dr. Horobin received her medical degree
from the University of Manchester, England.
“I am honored and excited to join Idera, to lead the growing
development team at this crucial time for the translation of
Idera’s promising scientific platforms. We have tremendous
momentum underway and I plan to fully leverage this as we look to
develop potential new treatment options for patients with cancer
and rare diseases,” stated Joanna Horobin, Idera’s Chief Medical
Officer.
Inducement Grant Under NASDAQ Listing Rule
5635(c)(4)
In connection with the hiring of Dr. Horobin, the Board of
Directors of the Company approved the grant to Dr. Horobin of a
stock option to purchase 275,000 shares of the Company’s common
stock. The option was granted as an inducement equity award
outside the Company’s 2013 Stock Incentive Plan and was made as an
inducement material to Dr. Horobin’s acceptance of employment with
the company. The option will have an exercise price equal to
the closing price of the Company’s common stock on November 30,
2015. The option has a ten year term and vests over four
years, with 25% of the original number of shares vesting on
November 30, 2016 and an additional 6.25% of the original number of
shares vesting at the end of each successive quarter thereafter,
subject to Dr. Horobin’s continued service with the Company through
the applicable vesting dates.
About Idera Pharmaceuticals
Idera Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company developing novel nucleic acid-based therapies for the
treatment of certain cancers and rare diseases. Idera’s proprietary
technology involves using a TLR-targeting technology, to design
synthetic oligonucleotide-based drug candidates to act by
modulating the activity of specific TLRs. In addition to its TLR
programs, Idera is developing a third generation antisense
technology platform that it has created using its proprietary
technology to inhibit the production of disease-associated proteins
by targeting RNA. To learn more about Idera, visit
www.iderapharma.com.
Investor and Media Contact
Robert Doody
VP, IR & Corporate Communications
617-679-5515 (office)
484‐639‐7235 (mobile)
rdoody@iderapharma.com
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