BERKELEY, Calif., April 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aduro Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADRO), a biopharmaceutical company
with three distinct immunotherapy technologies, today announced the promotion of Michele DeVries to vice president, regulatory
affairs and Celeste Ferber to vice president, associate general counsel.
“I am pleased to announce the promotion of Michele DeVries and Celeste Ferber, who have each demonstrated expertise in their
respective areas that is critical to the continued growth and success of our company,” said Stephen T. Isaacs, chairman, president
and CEO of Aduro Biotech. “Both Michele and Celeste have played an integral role in our ongoing clinical and corporate development
efforts, and we are pleased to add them to our leadership team. As we advance our programs into late stage development and
set our sights on commercialization, Michele’s proven track record of effectively liaising with regulatory agencies and corporate
partners, and Celeste’s extensive expertise in counseling public companies and astute business acumen, will continue to be of great
value to Aduro.”
Michele DeVries, vice president, regulatory affairs, has been with Aduro since April 2013 and is responsible for all aspects of
regulatory strategy, implementation and oversight of Aduro’s proprietary, partnered and licensed programs, both in the U.S. and
internationally. Prior to Aduro, Ms. DeVries served as director of regulatory affairs for Intarcia Therapeutics where she managed
key regulatory aspects of their drug delivery system, was the primary contact for regulatory authorities and responsible for all
aspects of routine and specialized regulatory submissions including preparation for launch of four global Phase 3 studies. Before
Intarcia, she held escalating regulatory affairs positions at VaxGen, InterMune and Tularik. She received her B.S. in
Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Celeste Ferber, vice president, associate general counsel, has been with Aduro since February 2016. Prior to Aduro, she was with
Shearman & Sterling LLP, where she served as counsel in the capital markets group. Ms. Ferber has over 15 years of experience
advising public and private companies on corporate and finance matters, including securities offerings, mergers, acquisitions and
strategic transactions, corporate governance and securities law compliance. Before Shearman & Sterling, Ms. Ferber was counsel at
Morrison & Foerster LLP working in their Palo Alto, Hong Kong and San Diego offices. Ms. Ferber received her J.D. from the
University of California, Hastings College of Law and her B.A. in Economics from Bucknell University. She is the author of numerous
publications regarding legal matters.
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, 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, our technology platforms, plans, 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,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “project,” “seek”, “expect” 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 annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, 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: Susan Lehner 510 809 2137 press@aduro.com
