Aligos Therapeutics Appoints Bridget Martell, MA, M.D., to its Board of Directors
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGS), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapeutics to address unmet medical needs in viral and liver diseases, today announced that the company has appointed Bridget Martell, MA, M.D., to the Company's board of directors.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Martell to our board of directors. Her decades of experience in therapeutics development and leadership in biotechnology will be invaluable to the company as we continue to move our therapeutic candidates, including those for chronic hepatitis B and NASH, through the clinic," said Lawrence Blatt, Ph.D., MBA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aligos.
Dr. Martell is an accomplished physician and biopharmaceutical executive who currently holds several executive and advisory roles, including as the President and CEO of Artizan Biosciences, a precision medicine microbiome company, a member of the Board of Directors at Achieve Life Sciences, and as a Venture Partner at AlleyCorp's Healthcare Fund.
Dr. Martell brings extensive scientific acumen to her leadership roles and has been a pivotal leader or major contributor in the success of six marketed products: Kadcyla®, Elelyso®, Intermezzo®, the trastuzumab biosimilar Ogivri®, as well as secondary indications for Pradaxa® and Sutent®. She has held leadership and C-suite executive roles at companies including Kura Oncology, where she led the menin inhibitor program through a period of rapid growth and capital expansion, at Juniper Pharmaceuticals, where she led development of unique combined drug/device technology that was out-licensed for $131M, and at Pfizer, where she had roles of increasing responsibility that included Clinical Team Leader for Sutent® GU solid tumors in the Oncology Business Unit and, ultimately, Biosimilars Medical Head.
She began her clinical investigation career at Yale with a Career Development Award, where she led a therapeutic cocaine vaccine trial and was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. Dr. Martell was a practicing physician at Yale for 20 years and remains active as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Office of Cooperative Research. She holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Cornell University, an M.A. in Molecular Immunology from Boston University and an M.D. from The Chicago Medical School. Dr. Martell is board certified in Internal and Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Martell added, "Having been on all sides of therapeutics development, from bench to bedside, I feel that Aligos has developed a portfolio that stands to make a meaningful clinical impact for patients with liver and infectious diseases who thus far haven't been offered the best that already approved therapeutics intended to. I look forward to supporting the Aligos team in strategically navigating their clinical development efforts."
About Aligos
Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that was founded in 2018 with the mission to become a world leader in the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Aligos is focused on the development of targeted antiviral therapies for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and coronaviruses as well as leveraging its expertise in liver diseases to create targeted therapeutics for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Aligos' strategy is to harness the deep expertise and decades of drug development experience its workforce has in liver disease, particularly viral hepatitis, to rapidly advance its pipeline of potentially best-in-class molecules.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements in this press release that are not historical facts may be considered "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "would," "believe," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," and other similar terminology indicating future results. Such forward-looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our development programs, future results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include without limitation risks and uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, including Aligos's clinical-stage of development, the process of designing and conducting clinical trials, the regulatory approval processes, the timing of regulatory filings, the challenges associated with manufacturing drug products, Aligos's ability to successfully establish, protect and defend its intellectual property, other matters that could affect the sufficiency of Aligos's capital resources to fund operations, reliance on third parties for manufacturing and development efforts, changes in the competitive landscape and the effects on our business of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Aligos in general, see Aligos's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 4, 2021, and its future periodic reports to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Aligos undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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