CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leap
Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPTX), a biotechnology company focused
on developing targeted and immuno-oncology therapeutics, today
announced changes to the Company's Executive Leadership Team. All
changes to the Board of Directors are effective immediately. Other
management changes will take effect April 1,
2020, and include the following:
- Christopher K. Mirabelli, Ph.D.,
will be stepping down from his role as President and Chief
Executive Officer. Dr. Mirabelli will continue to serve as the
Chairman of Leap's Board of Directors and provide ongoing
leadership and guidance around the Company's biomarker and research
efforts.
- Douglas E. Onsi, Leap's Chief
Financial Officer, is being named President and Chief Executive
Officer, while maintaining his current role. Mr. Onsi will also
serve as a member of the Board of Directors.
- John Littlechild will be
stepping down from Leap's Board of Directors.
- Cynthia Sirard, M.D., Vice
President, Clinical Research & Development, has been promoted
to Chief Medical Officer.
- Mark O'Mahony, Vice President of
Manufacturing, has been promoted to Chief Manufacturing
Officer.
"I want to extend my gratitude to both Chris and John for the
contributions they've made at Leap," said Mr. Onsi. "Leap has
benefited from Chris's leadership as CEO, and I appreciate his
continuing support of our R&D and biomarker team and as
Chairman. I thank John for his experience and guidance, which was
developed over a career that began as a venture capitalist
supporting an industry in its infancy at both Genzyme and
LeukoSite."
"I would like to congratulate Cyndi and Mark. Thanks in large
part to their efforts, we've made significant progress in advancing
our DKN-01 program and securing BeiGene as a strategic partner.
Their commitment to Leap and their efforts to advance our goal of
delivering important new therapies for the treatment of cancer are
greatly appreciated, and I look forward to continuing our work with
them," said Mr. Onsi.
Dr. Sirard has been Vice President of Clinical Research and
Development at Leap since 2012. She has global clinical development
experience that encompasses strategic development and the oversight
of clinical and commercial programs in oncology, including
Campath®. Prior to joining Leap, she served in clinical
development and team leadership roles with Sanofi, Genzyme
Corporation, and Parexel International. Dr. Sirard earned
her MD from Chicago Medical School and a BS at the
University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
She is a board certified Medical Oncologist with internal medicine
and hematology/oncology training at Harvard
Medical School at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in
Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. O'Mahony has been Vice President of Manufacturing at Leap
since 2011. Prior to joining Leap, he served as Vice President of
Process Development, Manufacturing, and Quality Control at Tolerx,
where he led manufacturing operations from the company's inception
through partnerships with Genentech and GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to
Tolerx, Mr. O'Mahony worked at LeukoSite and Millennium
Pharmaceuticals, where he played an integral role in the approval
and worldwide commercialization of Campath®. He earned his MBA from
Boston University and a BSc in
Biotechnology from Dublin City
University, Ireland.
About Leap Therapeutics
Leap Therapeutics (Nasdaq:
LPTX) is focused on developing targeted and immuno-oncology
therapeutics. Leap's most advanced clinical candidate, DKN-01, is a
humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) protein, a Wnt pathway modulator. DKN-01
is in clinical trials in patients with esophagogastric,
hepatobiliary, gynecologic, and prostate cancers. Leap has formed a
partnership with BeiGene, Ltd. for the rights to develop DKN-01 in
Asia (excluding Japan), Australia, and New
Zealand. For more information about Leap Therapeutics, visit
http://www.leaptx.com or our public filings with the SEC that are
available via EDGAR at http://www.sec.gov or via
https://investors.leaptx.com/.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
which involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include
statements regarding expectations with respect to the development
and advancement of DKN-01, including the initiation, timing and
design of future studies, enrollment in future studies, potential
for the receipt of future option exercise, milestones or royalty
payments from BeiGene, and other future expectations, plans and
prospects. Although Leap believes that the expectations reflected
in such forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date
made, forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from our expectations. Such risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the accuracy of our
estimates regarding expenses, future revenues, capital requirements
and needs for financing; the outcome, cost, and timing of our
product development activities and clinical trials; the uncertain
clinical development process, including the risk that clinical
trials may not have an effective design or generate positive
results; our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of
our drug product candidates; the size and growth potential of the
markets for our drug product candidates; our ability to continue
obtaining and maintaining intellectual property protection for our
drug product candidates; and other risks. Detailed information
regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ
materially will be included in Leap Therapeutics' periodic filings
with the SEC, including Leap's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2019,
as filed with the SEC on March 16,
2020. Any forward-looking statements contained in this
release speak only as of its date. We undertake no obligation to
update any forward-looking statements contained in this release to
reflect events or circumstances occurring after its date or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
CONTACT:
Douglas E. Onsi
Chief Financial Officer
Leap Therapeutics, Inc.
617-714-0360
donsi@leaptx.com
Heather Savelle
Investor Relations
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
heather@argotpartners.com
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SOURCE Leap Therapeutics, Inc.