Coherus BioSciences Appoints Theresa LaVallee, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Coherus BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRS), today announced the addition of Theresa LaVallee, Ph.D. as its Chief Development Officer. Dr. LaVallee will serve as a member of the Company's executive leadership team and oversee all regulatory matters and product development functions, reporting to Denny Lanfear, President and CEO of Coherus.

"Theresa is a terrific addition to Coherus at a time when we are increasingly focused on our immuno-oncology pipeline, particularly combinations with toripalimab, our PD-1 inhibitor," said Mr. Lanfear. "She is a seasoned executive with a proven track record of success in the end-to-end discovery and development of drugs and diagnostics for cancer. With her scientific and regulatory expertise, she will play a critical role in the growth of our immuno-oncology development capabilities."

"Coherus' lead immuno-oncology asset, toripalimab, is establishing a compelling clinical profile in late-stage trials. PD-1 inhibitors such as toripalimab are expected to play a long-term foundational role in immuno-oncology drug development as the backbone of novel combination treatments," said Dr. LaVallee. "I look forward to working with the team at Coherus and with the Company's world-class Scientific Advisory Board to help Coherus become a leader in immuno-oncology and to advance novel treatments for cancer patients."

Dr. LaVallee brings more than 25 years of drug discovery and development experience. Most recently, Dr. LaVallee was Vice President, Translational Medicine and Regulatory Affairs at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy where she provided scientific leadership for clinical strategy for development of novel immuno-oncology therapies and helped establish the institute's clinical, translational and regulatory organization. Previously, she held executive roles at Kolltan Pharma and Celldex Therapeutics. From 2008 – 2013, she was a member of the immuno-oncology team at AstraZeneca (MedImmune) developing checkpoint inhibitors and related diagnostics. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles and her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

About Coherus BioSciences

Coherus is a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company with the mission to increase access to cost-effective medicines that can have a major impact on patients' lives and to deliver significant savings to the health care system. Coherus' strategy is to build a leading immuno-oncology franchise in the United States and Canada funded with cash generated by its commercial biosimilar business. For additional information, please visit www.coherus.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding Coherus' ability to achieve growth in its immuno-oncology development capabilities; the quality of toripalimab's clinical profile; Coherus' ability to gain regulatory approval for toripalimab or any other drug candidates developed in combination with toripalimab; Coherus' plans to invest the cash generated by its biosimilar commercial business to build a leading immuno-oncology franchise.

Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause Coherus' actual results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risks and uncertainties inherent in the clinical drug development process; risks related to our existing and potential collaboration partners; risks of the drug development position of Coherus' competitors; the risks and uncertainties of the regulatory approval process, including the speed of regulatory review and the timing of Coherus' regulatory filings; risks in obtaining sufficient financing for contemplated clinical trials; the risk of FDA review issues; the risk that Coherus is unable to complete commercial transactions and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Coherus' drug candidates; and the risks and uncertainties of possible litigation. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Coherus undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Coherus' business in general, see Coherus' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 25, 2021, its subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, including the sections therein captioned "Risk Factors" and in other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Coherus Contact Information:

IR Contact:

McDavid Stilwell

Coherus BioSciences, Inc.

[email protected] 

Coherus Contact Information:

Cheston Turbyfill

Vice President, Communications

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