Morphic Appoints Joanne Gibbons as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs

WALTHAM, Mass., May 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 Joanne Gibbons has been named Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Ms. Gibbons was previously Vice President and Head of Regulatory Affairs at Codiak Biosciences.

"Joanne arrives at Morphic at a promising time. We are advancing clinical and pre-clinical integrin inhibitors generated by the MInT Platform and Joanne brings successful leadership experience across the full spectrum of regulatory affairs from preclinical activities through drug commercialization," stated Praveen Tipirneni, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Morphic Therapeutic. "On behalf of Morphic, it's a pleasure to welcome Joanne to the senior management team."

"Morphic is at an exciting time in its growth as MORF-057 progresses in Phase 2 studies for ulcerative colitis and the Company prepares its avb8 inhibitor program for solid tumors to enter clinical trials," commented Joanne Gibbons, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Morphic Therapeutic. "The integrin receptor family and Morphic's MInT Platform provide tremendous opportunities to generate a broad portfolio of drug candidates across multiple therapeutic indications and I look forward to being part of this great endeavor."

Joanne Gibbons has nearly 25 years of experience in Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Development, both in the development of novel drugs and the expansion of marketed products. Ms. Gibbons was previously Vice President and Head of Regulatory Affairs at Codiak Biosciences where she oversaw the regulatory function that led to clinical trials of the first candidates to emerge from Codiak's engEX™ platform. Before Codiak, Ms. Gibbons was Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs at Wave Life Sciences. Prior to that, Ms. Gibbons held positions of increasing responsibility in Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs at Biogen for nearly two decades, culminating as Interim Head of Global Regulatory Strategy where she led approval strategies as global regulatory lead for Aducanumab. Ms. Gibbons holds a BA from Tufts University.

About Morphic Therapeutic

Morphic Therapeutic is a biopharmaceutical company developing a new generation of oral integrin therapies for the treatment of serious chronic diseases, including autoimmune, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases, fibrosis, and cancer. In collaboration with AbbVie, Janssen, and Schrödinger, Morphic is advancing its pipeline and discovery activities 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 Statements

This 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 statements regarding: the MInT Platform's ability to discover drug candidates; Morphic's plans to develop and commercialize oral small-molecule integrin therapeutics and any proposed timing thereof; the initiation, execution and completion of the future MORF-057 phase 2 clinical trial; any expectations about safety, efficacy, timing and ability to commence or complete clinical studies and/or trials and to obtain regulatory approvals for MORF-057 and other candidates in development; and the ability of MORF-057 to treat inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis, or related 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 Morphic's 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 (SEC), including Morphic's or a partner's ability to complete a current or future clinical trial of any of our current or future product candidates, develop or obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize any product candidate, Morphic's ability to protect intellectual property, the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the sufficiency of our cash, cash equivalents and investments to fund our operations. We urge you to consider those factors, and the other risks and uncertainties described in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K as filed with the SEC, any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as well as in other documents that may be subsequently filed by Morphic, from time to time, with the SEC, in evaluating our forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and Morphic specifically disclaims 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.

Contacts

Morphic Therapeutic

Chris Erdman

[email protected]

617.686.1718