SpringWorks Therapeutics Appoints Dr. Mike Burgess as Head of Research and Development
STAMFORD, Conn., May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing life-changing medicines for patients with severe rare diseases and cancer, announced today that Mike Burgess, M.B.Ch.B., Ph.D. has been appointed Head of Research and Development (R&D). Dr. Burgess is a physician-scientist with clinical experience in pediatrics and pediatric oncology and over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry R&D leadership experience across several therapeutic areas, including oncology. Dr. Burgess will lead the R&D organization as the company continues to advance its diversified targeted oncology pipeline and to expand its portfolio with additional oncology programs. He succeeds Stephen Squinto, Ph.D., who served as Acting Head of R&D since the company's launch in 2017. Dr. Squinto will continue to serve on the SpringWorks Board of Directors.
"At SpringWorks, we are driven to execute on our ambitious plans to provide oncology patients with transformative new therapies, and our portfolio of programs is continuing to mature and expand in service of that goal," said Saqib Islam, Chief Executive Officer. "Mike is a strong R&D leader with deep experience in oncology and a track record of excellence across all stages of preclinical and clinical development, culminating in multiple approvals of new cancer medicines under his leadership. I am delighted to welcome Mike to SpringWorks and look forward to the scientific, clinical and leadership excellence he will bring to our already strong team as we continue to build a world-class oncology company on behalf of a broad range of cancer patients."
"I am excited to be joining SpringWorks at such a seminal time as the company advances a diversified pipeline that is maturing across rare oncology indications, multiple myeloma and metastatic solid tumors," said Dr. Burgess. "There is a significant opportunity ahead of us to accelerate and expand these efforts, including through the buildout of additional preclinical and clinical R&D capabilities within the organization. I look forward to working with the team to further our mission of developing life-changing medicines for people with cancer."
Dr. Burgess brings to SpringWorks over 20 years of experience building and leading R&D teams in oncology. He joins SpringWorks from Turnstone Biologics, where he was President of R&D and led the buildout of a leading cancer immunotherapy R&D organization. Prior to Turnstone, Dr. Burgess led the strategy and execution of translational medicine, early-stage clinical trials and clinical pharmacology across all therapeutic areas, including oncology, at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Before that, he held several different senior leadership positions at Hoffmann La-Roche, including Acting Global Head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) and Senior Vice President and Global Head of Oncology Research and Early Development. Prior to Roche, Dr. Burgess was with Eli Lilly and Company, where he worked on early-stage oncology trials. Dr. Burgess received his medical degree (M.B.Ch.B.) and Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Bristol, UK and spent 10 years as a practicing physician in pediatrics and pediatric oncology.
About SpringWorks Therapeutics
SpringWorks is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company applying a precision medicine approach to acquiring, developing and commercializing life-changing medicines for underserved patient populations suffering from devastating rare diseases and cancer. SpringWorks has a differentiated portfolio of small molecule targeted oncology product candidates and is advancing two potentially registrational clinical trials in rare tumor types, as well as several other programs addressing highly prevalent, genetically defined cancers. SpringWorks' strategic approach and operational excellence in clinical development have enabled it to rapidly advance its two lead product candidates into late-stage clinical trials while simultaneously entering into multiple shared-value partnerships with industry leaders to expand its portfolio. For more information, visit www.springworkstx.com and follow @SpringWorksTx on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating to our business, operations, and financial conditions, including but not limited to current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, our development plans, our preclinical and clinical results, and other future conditions. Words such as, but not limited to, "look forward to," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "would," "should" and "could," and similar expressions or words, identify forward-looking statements. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, risks relating to: (i) the success and timing of our product development activities, including the initiation and completion of SpringWorks' clinical trials, (ii) the fact that interim data from a clinical study may not be predictive of the final results of such study or the results of other ongoing or future studies, (iii) the success and timing of our collaboration partners' ongoing and planned clinical trials, (iv) our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of any of our product candidates, (v) our plans to research, discover and develop additional product candidates, (vi) our ability to enter into collaborations for the development of new product candidates, (vii) our ability to establish manufacturing capabilities, and our and our collaboration partners' abilities to manufacture our product candidates and scale production, (viii) our ability to meet any specific milestones set forth herein, and (ix) uncertainties and assumptions regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SpringWorks' business, operations, clinical trials, supply chain, strategy, goals and anticipated timelines. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. For further information regarding the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause differences between SpringWorks' expectations and actual results, you should review the "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of Part I of SpringWorks' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and other important factors in SpringWorks' subsequent filings.
Contact
Kim Diamond
Vice President Communications and Investor Relations
Phone: 203-561-1646
Email: [email protected]
