Appointment adds regulatory expertise as Translate Bio advances early and mid-stage pipeline programs
LEXINGTON, Mass., Jan. 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Translate Bio (Nasdaq: TBIO), a clinical-stage messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics company developing a new class of potentially transformative medicines to treat diseases caused by protein or gene dysfunction, today announced the appointment of Robert J. Meyer, MD, a pulmonologist and Principal of Greenleaf Health’s Drug and Biological Products team, to its Board of Directors.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Meyer join our Board of Directors as we seek to advance our first-in-class clinical and preclinical mRNA product candidates,” said Ronald Renaud, chief executive officer of Translate Bio. “Dr. Meyer has significant leadership and decades of experience in regulatory strategy and drug development, which we anticipate will be of critical importance as we continue to advance our clinical development initiatives and build a broad pipeline of early-stage programs.”
Dr. Meyer has twenty-five years of regulatory and academic leadership experience. He is currently Principal of the Drug and Biological Products team at Greenleaf Health Inc., a leading U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strategic advising firm providing guidance to companies navigating the FDA’s regulatory process. Dr. Meyer began his career as an academic pulmonologist and critical care specialist at Oregon Health and Science University. Dr. Meyer then spent 13 years at the FDA, including serving as the Director for the Office of Drug Evaluation II (ODE II) within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), with oversight of pulmonary and allergy, metabolic and endocrine, analgesic and anesthetic, and rheumatologic drug products. Following the FDA, Dr. Meyer joined Merck & Company where he served as Global Head/VP of Strategy, Policy and Safety at Merck Research Laboratories. Following his tenure at Merck, Dr. Meyer served as Director of the Virginia Center for Translational and Regulatory Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine. He continues to serve as an Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences at UVA. Dr. Meyer received his medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and completed his residency with the University of Connecticut School of Medicine at the VA Medical Center, serving as Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Meyer did his pulmonary and critical care training at the University of Vermont. Dr. Meyer earned a Bachelor of Science from Lehigh University.
“I am very excited for the opportunity to join the Translate Bio Board of Directors and help the company advance its mission of developing mRNA therapeutics for genetic diseases,” said Dr. Meyer. “I believe mRNA medicines have the potential to change how many diseases are treated, and I look forward to advising the team as they define clinical and regulatory pathways with the goal of reaching patients desperately awaiting novel therapies.”
About Translate Bio
Translate Bio is a clinical-stage mRNA therapeutics company developing a new class of potentially transformative medicines to treat diseases caused by protein or gene dysfunction. The Company’s MRT platform is designed to develop product candidates that deliver mRNA carrying instructions to produce intracellular, transmembrane and secreted proteins for therapeutic benefit. Translate Bio believes that its MRT platform and its MRT delivery systems are applicable to a broad range of diseases caused by insufficient protein production or where production of proteins can modify disease, including diseases that affect the lung, liver, eye, central nervous system and lymphatic system. The Company also believes its MRT platform and MRT delivery systems may be applied to various classes of treatments, such as therapeutic antibodies or vaccines in areas such as infectious disease and oncology. Translate Bio’s two lead programs are being developed as treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF) and ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency. For more information about the Company, please visit www.translate.bio or on Twitter at @TranslateBio.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those regarding: Translate Bio’s expectations regarding the potential for the newly appointed board member to provide leadership and experience, insights and regulatory direction and to help advance additional programs to the clinic; and Translate Bio’s plans, strategies and prospects for its business, including its lead development programs. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek”, “should,” “target,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from current expectations and beliefs, including but not limited to: Translate Bio’s ability to advance the development of its platform and programs under the timelines it projects, demonstrate the requisite safety and efficacy of its product candidates and replicate in clinical trials any positive findings from preclinical studies; Translate Bio’s ability to enroll patients in its ongoing clinical trial; the content and timing of decisions made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, other regulatory authorities and investigational review boards at clinical trial sites; Translate Bio’s ability to obtain, maintain and enforce necessary patent and other intellectual property protection; the availability of significant cash required to fund operations; competitive factors; general economic and market conditions and other important risk factors set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in Translate Bio’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2018 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 8, 2018 and in any other subsequent filings made by Translate Bio. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Translate Bio specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact for Translate Bio
Teri Dahlman
tdahlman@translate.bio
857-242-7792