HAYWARD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (NYSE:RCUS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating innovative cancer therapies, today announced that Antoni Ribas, M.D., Ph.D. has joined the Company’s Board of Directors.
“After many years of working with Toni and having him as an important advisor, we are thrilled to have Toni’s knowledge, experience and wisdom in the boardroom,” said Terry Rosen, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Arcus. “Arcus’s co-founder, Juan Jaen, and I were first introduced to Toni prior to starting our previous company Flexus, and Toni has been an incredibly engaged and thoughtful advisor on all aspects of our research and discovery efforts since that time; his unique knowledge of both the science and clinical practice in the oncology field has made him an indispensable resource, whether on strategy, tactics or execution, in our basic research, translational and clinical development activities.”
“I have had the great privilege of collaborating with outstanding colleagues, patients and their families throughout my career and most recently in work involving the initial wave of breakthrough immuno-oncology therapies,” commented Dr. Ribas. “I am excited to be partnering with Arcus, now moving into a seminal stage of its evolution as a drug discovery organization, with four clinical-stage molecules in or approaching the efficacy study phase in patients. Arcus values underlying scientific rationale and has created a portfolio of programs selected to provide synergistic combination approaches to cancer therapies, and I look forward to working with their team to fully leverage the opportunities for patients inherent in what has been created to date.”
Dr. Ribas is an internationally recognized physician-scientist who conducts translational and clinical research aimed at understanding how the immune system can be used to treat cancer. He has been a leader in the research and clinical development of multiple types of therapeutic agents, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, gene-engineered T cells, and BRAF-targeted therapies. His efforts have been instrumental in transforming the treatment paradigm for oncology patients, particularly those with malignant melanoma, having served as principal investigator for multiple trials, including those involving the breakthrough cancer therapy, Keytruda®.
Dr. Ribas is Professor of Medicine, Surgery, and Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Director of the Tumor Immunology Program at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Center at UCLA. He is currently the President-Elect for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Dr. Ribas has founded or advised several successful biopharma companies in addition to Arcus, such as Kite Pharma and Flexus Biosciences. Most recently, he co-founded PACT Pharma, a company developing personalized cancer neoantigen-targeted T cell therapies, together with Professors David Baltimore and Jim Heath and Arcus co-founders, Terry Rosen and Juan Jaen. Dr. Ribas has been a member of the Arcus Scientific Advisory Board since its creation in 2015.
Dr. Ribas received MD and PhD degrees from the Universidad de Barcelona (Spain). He completed his internship and residency in medical oncology at the University Hospital Vall d’Hebron (Barcelona, Spain) and conducted postdoctoral research at UCLA. Following a fellowship in hematology/oncology in the Department of Medicine at UCLA, he has held numerous faculty and administrative positions at UCLA since 2001. Dr. Ribas has received a myriad of awards and honors, including the AACR-CRI Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology, the AACR Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award. Dr. Ribas has also served on the Board of Directors of leading scientific organizations such as the AACR and the Society for Immunotherapy for Cancer (SITC).
About Arcus Biosciences
Arcus Biosciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating innovative cancer therapies. Arcus has four programs in the clinic targeting important oncology/immuno-oncology pathways: (1) AB928, a dual antagonist of adenosine receptors A2aR and A2bR, being evaluated in several Phase 1/1b trials in combination with multiple regimens across a range of tumor types, (2) AB680, a small molecule inhibitor of CD73 progressing into a Phase 1/1b pancreatic cancer trial, (3) AB122, an anti-PD-1 antibody progressing into a biomarker-selected tumor-agnostic Phase 1b trial, and (4) AB154, an anti-TIGIT antibody being evaluated in combination with AB122. Arcus has extensive in-house expertise in medicinal chemistry, immunology, biochemistry, pharmacology and structural biology. Utilizing these unique capabilities, Arcus has developed a robust and active early-stage discovery effort focused on small-molecule pipeline expansion. For more information about Arcus Biosciences, please visit www.arcusbio.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein, including, but not limited to, the potential of Arcus’s portfolio and combinations, are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause Arcus’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the inherent uncertainty associated with pharmaceutical product development and clinical trials, the emergence of adverse events or other undesirable side effects, and changes in the competitive landscape for our programs. Risks and uncertainties facing Arcus are described more fully in Arcus’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Arcus disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, supplement or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
Keytruda® is a registered trademark of Merck.
Contacts
Katherine Bock
(415) 533-5670