IDEAYA Biosciences Appoints Michael White, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDYA), a synthetic lethality focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics, announced that Michael White, Ph.D., will join the company as its Chief Scientific Officer, effective November 1, 2021. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. White, and we believe his deep industry experience as CSO and Head of Tumor Biology at Pfizer, and extensive knowledge in cancer biology developed during a prolific academic career at UT Southwestern, will enable IDEAYA to extend its position as the industry leader in the emerging field of synthetic lethality.  Under Dr. White's leadership we will continue to enhance IDEAYA's synthetic lethality platform and advance our next generation synthetic lethality pipeline, including in biomarker populations beyond HRD, such as MTAP, as well as utilizing both small molecule inhibitor and protein degrader drug discovery approaches," said Yujiro S. Hata, President and Chief Executive Officer of IDEAYA Biosciences.

"I am excited to join IDEAYA to help advance the company's strategic vision to discover and develop potential first-in-class and best-in-class synthetic lethality-based precision therapies for oncology.  This emerging realm of precision medicine holds considerable potential to deliver new treatments for cancer patients with unmet need, particularly for those harboring disease that emerges from loss-of-function genetic alterations that are otherwise undruggable.  A prominent example is MTAP-deletion, where IDEAYA is well-positioned to be an industry leader with continued advancement of the potential best-in-class Phase 1 MAT2A inhibitor IDE397 and potential novel synthetic lethality combinations," said Dr. Michael White. 

Dr. White formerly served as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Tumor Biology at Pfizer, Inc., where he led cross-disciplinary groups to build an oncology small-molecule pipeline focused on first-in-class therapies, culminating in numerous INDs.  Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. White had a prolific over twenty-year academic career at UT Southwestern where he was a Professor of Cell Biology and founding Director of the Cancer Intervention and Prevention Discovery Program.  In 2015, Dr. White received the inaugural Outstanding Investigator's Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the U.S. Government's principal agency for cancer research, and has authored over 150 publications with over 22,000 citations.  Dr. White received his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed postdoctoral research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in New York.

Dr. White succeeds Dr. Michael Dillon, who joined IDEAYA in 2016.  Dr. Dillon served as Chief Scientific Officer since 2018, and announced his plans to transition in late 2019.  "We thank Dr. Dillon for his extensive contributions, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors," said Yujiro S. Hata, President and Chief Executive Officer of IDEAYA Biosciences.

About IDEAYA Biosciences

IDEAYA is a synthetic lethality-focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics for patient populations selected using molecular diagnostics.  IDEAYA's approach integrates capabilities in identifying and validating translational biomarkers with drug discovery to select patient populations most likely to benefit from its targeted therapies.  IDEAYA is applying its early research and drug discovery capabilities to synthetic lethality – which represents an emerging class of precision medicine targets. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements related to (i) the anticipated starting date of Dr. White and (ii) the impact Dr. White will have on IDEAYA's programs. IDEAYA undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of IDEAYA in general, see IDEAYA's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 10, 2021 and any current and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SOURCE IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc.