Aduro Biotech Announces Andrea van Elsas, Ph.D., to be Named Chief Scientific Officer Effective September 1, 2017
July 27 2017 - 8:00AM
Aduro Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADRO), a biopharmaceutical company with
three distinct immunotherapy technologies, today announced that
Andrea van Elsas, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of the company’s
subsidiary Aduro Biotech Europe, will be appointed chief scientific
officer of Aduro Biotech effective September 1, 2017. Thomas
Dubensky, Jr., Ph.D., has resigned from this post effective August
31, 2017 to pursue his interest in running his own discovery and
research company. Dr. Dubensky will provide counsel to the company
through a consulting agreement until the end of the year and plans
to subsequently join the company’s scientific advisory board.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/82fa61b7-34ee-415e-996c-1eaffa4e90bd.
“We are pleased to appoint Andrea, a seasoned research and drug
discovery executive who has been leading the Aduro Biotech Europe
research team, to the position of chief scientific officer of
Aduro,” said Stephen T. Isaacs, chairman, president and chief
executive officer of Aduro. “Andrea is a preeminent thought
leader in the field of tumor immunology and his distinguished
career spearheading research and development at highly-regarded
organizations, such as Organon, Schering-Plough and Merck, formed
the basis for the commercialization of transformative therapies,
including a commercially available anti-PD-1. Andrea’s expanded
leadership at Aduro will ensure that we continue world-class
research activities across the two facilities and strategically
leverage our three platform technologies and robust immuno-oncology
pipeline.”
Steve continued, “Tom’s scientific leadership and prowess led to
the discovery and pursuit of the company’s foundational
technologies that position the company for success as we advance
multiple innovative product candidates into, and through, clinical
development. On behalf of the entire company and the Board of
Directors, we thank him for his significant contributions to our
programs and to the scientific community, and we look forward to
his continued involvement as a future member of Aduro’s scientific
advisory board.”
Andrea van Elsas, Ph.D. Andrea van Elsas joined
Aduro in November 2015 as the Chief Scientific Officer of Aduro
Biotech Europe, a subsidiary of Aduro Biotech. Prior to its
acquisition by Aduro in 2015, Dr. van Elsas co-founded BioNovion
and served as Chief Scientific Officer focusing on the development
of innovative therapeutic antibodies in the field of immune
oncology. From 1999 to 2011, he held numerous positions at
Organon in Oss, The Netherlands, and Cambridge, Massachusetts
(acquired by Schering-Plough Corporation in 2007 and later by Merck
& Co.), and as the Director of Tumor Immunology he ran the
immune oncology portfolio including the program that later became
known as pembrolizumab. As a postdoctoral researcher from
1997-1999, Andrea worked at the University of California, Berkeley,
studying antibodies blocking CTLA-4 for the treatment of cancer and
is a co-inventor on the original patents that formed the basis for
the development of Yervoy® (ipilimumab), the first checkpoint
inhibitor approved in 2011 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
for the treatment of melanoma.
About Aduro Aduro Biotech, Inc. is an
immunotherapy company focused on the discovery, development and
commercialization of therapies that transform the treatment of
challenging diseases. Aduro's technology platforms, which are
designed to harness the body's natural immune system, are being
investigated in cancer indications and have the potential to expand
into autoimmune and infectious diseases. Aduro's LADD technology
platform is based on proprietary attenuated strains of Listeria
that have been engineered to express tumor-associated antigens to
induce specific and targeted immune responses. This platform is
being developed as a treatment for multiple indications, including
mesothelioma, gastric/esophageal, ovarian, lung and prostate
cancers. Additionally, a personalized form of LADD, or pLADD, is
being developed utilizing tumor neoantigens that are specific to an
individual patient’s tumor. Aduro's STING Pathway Activator
platform is designed to activate the STING receptor in immune
cells, resulting in a potent tumor-specific immune response.
ADU-S100 is the first STING Pathway Activator compound to enter the
clinic and is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 study in
patients with cutaneously accessible metastatic solid tumors or
lymphomas. Aduro’s B-select monoclonal antibody platform includes a
number of immune modulating assets in research and preclinical
development. Aduro is collaborating with leading global
pharmaceutical companies to expand its products and technology
platforms. For more information, please visit www.aduro.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements This press release
contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our
intentions or current expectations concerning, among other things,
Dr. van Elsas’ leadership in research activities across our two
facilities, Dr. Dubensky’s continuing role with the company, our
technology platforms, plans, research activities and the potential
for eventual regulatory approval of our product candidates. In some
cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words
such as “may,” “will,” “continue,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,”
“could,” “project,” “seek”, “expect”, “position” or the negative or
plural of these words or similar expressions. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject
to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and
events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but
not limited to, our history of net operating losses and uncertainty
regarding our ability to achieve profitability, our ability to
develop and commercialize our product candidates, our ability to
use and expand our technology platforms to build a pipeline of
product candidates, our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory
approval of our product candidates, our ability to operate in a
competitive industry and compete successfully against competitors
that have greater resources than we do, our reliance on third
parties, and our ability to obtain and adequately protect
intellectual property rights for our product candidates. We
discuss many of these risks in greater detail under the heading
“Risk Factors” contained in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for
the quarter ended March 31, 2017, which is on file with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements
that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of
this press release. We assume no obligation to update our
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, after the date of this press
release.
Contact:
Sylvia Wheeler
SVP, Corporate Affairs
510 809 9264
Media Contact:
Alexandra Santos
510 809 9231
press@aduro.com
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