Avalo Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVTX), a leading clinical-stage
precision medicine company that discovers, develops, and
commercializes targeted therapeutics for patients with significant
unmet clinical need in immunology and rare genetic diseases,
announced today a leadership transition.
On February 14, 2022 and effective immediately,
the Company’s Board of Directors appointed Garry Neil, Chief
Scientific Officer, as Chief Executive Officer and Chris Sullivan,
Chief Accounting Officer, as Chief Financial Officer. The Company’s
research and development group will continue to report to Dr. Neil.
Mike Cola and Schond Greenway have stepped away from their prior
roles as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer,
respectively, to pursue other interests.
“On behalf of the Board, we would like to
express our appreciation and gratitude to both Mike and Schond for
their contributions while at Avalo Therapeutics,” said Steven Boyd,
Chairman of the Board of Avalo Therapeutics. “The Company made
substantial progress under their leadership and it is now reaching
an exciting inflection point given the recent and upcoming data
readouts. Looking at the future of Avalo, we believe that Garry and
Chris will be the right team to execute an optimal strategy focused
on prioritizing our most promising programs allowing for greater
operational achievement, opportunities for business development,
and ultimately increased shareholder value.”
“It has been a pleasure to work with Mike over
the past 2 years building Avalo Therapeutics,” said Garry Neil,
Chief Executive Officer of Avalo Therapeutics. “I am honored to
step into the role as the chief executive officer, to lead our
strong and dynamic team. I’m particularly excited about pursuing
the development of AVTX-002, which has now shown proof of concept
in multiple acute and chronic inflammatory diseases and the value a
positive outcome in NEA could unlock for the Company. We remain
excited about our mission to treat patients with significant unmet
clinical needs and to work on advancing our targeted therapies
through the pipeline while increasing value driving
opportunities.”
Dr. Garry Neil also serves as the Chairman of
the Board of Directors of Arena Pharmaceuticals, an approximately
$6 billion Nasdaq-listed biotechnology company. He is a member of
the Board of the Center for Discovery and Innovation at Hackensack
Meridian Health. Prior to joining Avalo, Dr. Neil served as Chief
Scientific Officer of Aevi Genomic Medicine and held a number of
senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry, academia, and
venture capital. These include Corporate VP of Science &
Technology at Johnson & Johnson and Group President at Johnson
& Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, VP of
R&D at Merck KGaA/EMD Pharmaceuticals, and VP of Clinical
Research at AstraZeneca and Astra Merck. He is founding and past
Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Industry R&D Consortium,
TransCelerate Biopharmaceuticals Inc., past Chairman of the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA)
Science and Regulatory Executive Committee and the PhRMA Foundation
Board. He is also a former member of the Board of the Reagan Udall
Foundation for the FDA. He is a past member of the Board of GTx
Pharmaceuticals, the Foundation for the National Institutes of
Health (FNIH), and the Science Management Review Board of the NIH.
Dr. Neil holds a BS from the University of Saskatchewan and an MD
from the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine.
Mr. Sullivan most recently served as the
Company’s Chief Accounting Officer and prior to that as Interim
Chief Financial Officer, during which time the Company raised
approximately $80 million in gross proceeds. Prior to joining
Avalo, Mr. Sullivan was the Corporate Controller for Sucampo
Pharmaceuticals, a Nasdaq-listed specialty pharmaceuticals company,
when it was merged with Mallinckrodt in a $1.2 billion transaction.
He also served as the Corporate Controller for OpGen, a
Nasdaq-listed diagnostic company, and prior to that was a Senior
Manager at Ernst & Young. Mr. Sullivan has a strong public
company and life science background, along with his wealth of
financial knowledge, including significant experience with equity
and debt capital raises, acquisitions, divestitures, in and
out-license transactions, enterprise resource planning
implementations, and financial planning and analysis from leading
finance and accounting functions at various public biotechnology,
molecular diagnostic, and pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Sullivan
received his BS in Accounting and Finance from the University of
Maryland, College Park where he graduated magna cum laude, and he
is a Certified Public Accountant.
About Avalo
Therapeutics Avalo Therapeutics is a leading
clinical-stage precision medicine company that discovers, develops,
and commercializes targeted therapeutics for patients with
significant unmet clinical need in immunology and rare genetic
diseases. The Company has built a diverse portfolio of innovative
therapies to deliver meaningful medical impact for patients in
urgent need. The Company’s clinical candidates commonly have a
proven mechanistic rationale, biomarkers and/or an established
proof-of-concept to expedite and increase the probability of
success.
For more information about Avalo, please visit
www.avalotx.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
press release may include forward-looking statements made pursuant
to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical
facts. Such forward-looking statements are subject to significant
risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various
factors (many of which are beyond Avalo’s control), which could
cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements.
Such statements may include, without limitation, statements with
respect to Avalo’s plans, objectives, projections, expectations and
intentions and other statements identified by words such as
“projects,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,”
“continue,” “seeks,” “aims,” “predicts,” “believes,” “expects,”
“anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “potential,” or
similar expressions (including their use in the negative), or by
discussions of future matters such as: the future financial and
operational outlook; the development of product candidates or
products; timing and success of trial results and regulatory
review; potential attributes and benefits of product candidates;
and other statements that are not historical. These statements are
based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Avalo’s
management but are subject to significant risks and uncertainties,
including: reliance on key personnel, including particularly
through management transitions; drug development costs, timing and
other risks, including reliance on investigators and enrollment of
patients in clinical trials, which might be slowed by the COVID-19
pandemic; regulatory risks; Avalo's cash position and the potential
need for it to raise additional capital; general economic and
market risks and uncertainties, including those caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic; and those other risks detailed in Avalo’s
filings with the SEC. Actual results may differ from those set
forth in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by
applicable law, Avalo expressly disclaims any obligations or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change
in Avalo’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in
events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is
based.
For media and investor
inquiries
Chris BrinzeyWestwicke, an ICR
CompanyChris.brinzey@westwicke.com339-970-2843
or
Maxim Jacobs, CFA Vice President, Investor
RelationsAvalo Therapeuticsmjacobs@avalotx.com610-254-4201
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