Investors & Media

Allen Annis, PhD, promoted to Senior Vice President of Research

WATERTOWN, Mass., Nov. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aileron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALRN), the clinical stage leader in the field of stabilized, cell-permeating peptides to treat cancer and other diseases, today announced that Vojislav (Vojo) Vukovic, MD, PhD, has been named Chief Medical Officer (CMO). He succeeds Manuel Aivado, MD, PhD, who was promoted to Chief Executive Officer on September 6, 2018. In addition, the Company announced the promotion of Allen Annis, PhD, to Senior Vice President of Research.

Dr. Vukovic is a pharmaceutical industry executive with 20 years of hands-on experience in oncology drug development and medical affairs.  Most recently, he was the CMO of Taiho Oncology, where he oversaw the reorganization and scaling of the U.S. and European R&D function to advance the development of the company’s clinical programs. Prior to Taiho, Dr. Vukovic held the CMO role at Synta Pharmaceuticals Inc. where he oversaw the  company’s clinical programs, as well as biometrics, clinical operations, pharmacovigilance, regulatory and medical affairs. During his tenure at Synta, Dr. Vukovic led many early and late-stage clinical trials and their translational research activities, including biomarker discovery and validation. Prior to Synta, Dr. Vukovic was a Medical Director at Pfizer, where he was responsible for the development of sunitinib and axitinib in several oncology indications. He also was a member of the leadership team for Pfizer’s Oncology Radiotherapy Initiative.

“We are excited to have Vojo Vukovic join our executive team as Chief Medical Officer.  His broad expertise in cancer research and global clinical development will augment our team’s capabilities and strengths as we consider our next steps in the development of our lead clinical candidate, ALRN-6924,” stated Dr. Aivado, CEO & President of Aileron Therapeutics. "In addition, we are further strengthening our executive team by promoting Allen Annis to Senior Vice President of Research.  As the leader of Aileron’s internal and collaborative research activities for many years, Allen has been a role model for his commitment to make our peptide platform succeed, and his work has been instrumental for the clinical development of ALRN-6924.  I expect that, together, Vojo and Allen will help to grow Aileron into a stronger organization that may deliver on more opportunities.”

About ALRN-6924
ALRN-6924 is a first-in-class, stabilized alpha-helical cell-permeating peptide that mimics the p53 tumor suppressor protein to disrupt its interactions with both its endogenous inhibitors, MDMX and MDM2. For p53 wild-type tumors, ALRN-6924 can restore p53-dependent tumor suppression. ALRN-6924 is currently being evaluated in multiple clinical trials for the treatment of solid and hematological cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). For information about Aileron’s clinical trials, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

About Aileron
Aileron is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing a proprietary platform of cell-permeating alpha-helical peptides that address the most important intracellular targets in oncology and other therapeutic areas. The stabilized helical structure of our peptides allows the design of cell-permeating therapeutic agents with large molecular surfaces for optimal target binding properties, resulting in drug candidates like ALRN-6924. Our current focus is to improve the standard of care for patients with solid tumors and hematological malignancies by developing safe and effective therapies that leverage our proprietary peptide platform. For more information, visit www.aileronrx.com, and for more information about our clinical trials please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release about Aileron's future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company’s strategy and clinical development plans. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.

Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including whether Aileron’s cash resources will be sufficient to fund its continuing operations for the periods and/or trials anticipated; whether results obtained in preclinical studies and clinical trials will be indicative of results obtained in future clinical trials; whether Aileron’s product candidates will advance through the clinical trial process on a timely basis, or at all; whether the results of such trials will warrant submission for approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies; whether Aileron's product candidates will receive approval from regulatory agencies on a timely basis or at all; whether, if product candidates obtain approval, they will be successfully distributed and marketed; whether the Company will be able to enter into additional collaborations; and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of Aileron's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2018, filed on August 7, 2018, and risks described in other filings that Aileron may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Aileron specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investors:
Aileron Therapeutics
Don Dougherty, CFO
617-995-0900
ddougherty@aileronrx.com 

Hans C. Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors, LLC.
617-535-7743
hans@lifesciadvisors.com 

Source: Aileron Therapeutics, Inc.