Morphic Appoints Dr. Simon Cooper as Chief Medical Officer
March 19 2024 - 8:00AM
Morphic Therapeutic (Nasdaq: MORF), a biopharmaceutical company
developing a new generation of oral integrin therapies for the
treatment of serious chronic diseases, today announced that Simon
Cooper, M.B.B.S., has joined the Company as Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Cooper is an accomplished leader in drug development with
appreciable success and a proven history across all phases of
clinical development and in a wide variety of therapeutic areas,
particularly autoimmune, inflammatory, cardiovascular, and
pulmonary diseases. Dr. Cooper most recently served as Chief
Medical Officer of Keros Therapeutics.
“Simon brings clinical development expertise
stemming from leadership roles across the entire spectrum of
clinical development from first-in-human studies through FDA
submissions and approvals of highly successful therapeutics. Of
particular relevance to Morphic as we advance MORF-057, is Simon’s
experience in the development and approvals for therapeutically
effective and commercially successful autoimmune and inflammatory
agents in the GI space,” commented Praveen Tipirneni, Chief
Executive Officer of Morphic. “On behalf of the entire Morphic Team
and our Board of Directors, I welcome Simon and look forward to
collaboration on our exciting work.”
“In MORF-057, Morphic holds the possibility of
creating a new treatment for inflammatory bowel disease with an
ideal product profile: an orally administered, well tolerated and
clinically meaningful therapeutic. I am also excited about the
prospects for Morphic research programs for small molecules against
non-integrin immunology targets and am looking forward to working
with the Morphic Team,” commented Dr. Cooper.
About Simon CooperDr. Simon
Cooper was most recently Chief Medical Officer of Keros
Therapeutics. Prior to Keros, Dr. Cooper served as Chief Medical
Officer of each of Kadmon Holdings and Anokion, where he drove
significant advances in program development and building key
functional areas to support clinical development for assets in the
autoimmune, inflammatory, and immuno-oncology areas. Dr. Cooper was
previously Asset Strategy Leader at AbbVie where he played a key
role in the development of risankizumab in a variety of indications
including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Dr. Cooper has
also held the role of Vice President, Global Project Head for the
sarilumab program at Sanofi and Group Program Medical Director at
Novartis, leading the submission of the secukinumab program in
psoriasis. Earlier in this career, Dr. Cooper held roles of
increasing responsibility at research and development organizations
including Wyeth Research, Napp Pharmaceutical Research, Roche,
Human Genome Sciences and MedImmune. Dr Cooper holds a Bachelor of
Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Newcastle
upon Tyne Medical School.
Grant of Inducement AwardIn
connection with Dr. Cooper’s appointment as Chief Medical Officer,
Morphic’s Board of Directors granted Dr. Cooper, pursuant to the
Company’s 2024 Equity Inducement Plan and in accordance with Nasdaq
Listing Rule 5635(c)(4): (i) stock options to purchase up to
170,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $33.46
per share, the closing price of our common stock on the grant date
(the “Option Grant”), (ii) restricted stock units (“RSUs”) with
respect to 14,000 shares of our common stock (the “New-Hire RSU
Grant”) and (iii) RSUs with respect to 7,000 shares of our common
stock (the “Sign-On RSU Grant” and together with the Option Grant
and the New-Hire RSU Grant, the “Grants”). The Grants are subject
to the terms and conditions of the 2024 Equity Inducement Plan, and
the terms and conditions of the stock option and RSU agreements
covering the Grants.
About Morphic
TherapeuticMorphic Therapeutic is a biopharmaceutical
company developing a portfolio of oral integrin therapies for the
treatment of serious chronic diseases, including autoimmune,
cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases, fibrosis, and cancer.
Morphic is also advancing its pipeline and discovery activities in
collaboration with Schrödinger using its proprietary MInT
technology platform which leverages the Company’s unique
understanding of integrin structure and biology. For more
information, visit www.morphictx.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains
“forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, and of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not
limited to: our plans to develop and commercialize oral
small-molecule integrin therapeutics and any proposed timing
thereof; the initiation, execution and completion of clinical
trials of MORF-057; and the ability of MORF-057 to treat
inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s
disease, and other indications. Statements including words such as
“believe,” “plan,” “continue,” “expect,” “will be,” “develop,”
“signal,” “potential,” “anticipate” or “ongoing” and statements in
the future tense are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well
as assumptions, which, if they do not fully materialize or prove
incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that may cause our actual activities or results to differ
significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking
statement, including risks and uncertainties in this press release
and other risks set forth in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including, among others, our or a partner’s
ability to complete a current or future clinical trial of any of
our current or future product candidates, our ability to develop or
obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize any product
candidate, our ability to protect our intellectual property, and
the sufficiency of our cash, cash equivalents and investments to
fund our operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date hereof and we specifically disclaim any obligation to
update these forward-looking statements or reasons why actual
results might differ, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
ContactMorphic TherapeuticChris
Erdmanchris.erdman@morphictx.com617.686.1718
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