Evelo Biosciences Appoints Industry Veteran Jonathan Zung, Ph.D. as Chief Development Officer
Evelo Biosciences (Nasdaq: EVLO) has appointed Dr. Jonathan Zung as Chief Development Officer. With over 25 years of industry experience, Dr. Zung aims to enhance Evelo's drug development capabilities as the company progresses with its lead program, EDP1815, for inflammatory diseases. CEO Simba Gill expressed confidence in Dr. Zung's expertise, highlighting recent positive clinical data. Evelo's pipeline includes three candidates for inflammatory diseases and one for cancer, focusing on the innovative SINTAX therapeutic approach.
- Appointment of Jonathan Zung as Chief Development Officer may strengthen leadership and drug development expertise.
- Positive clinical data reported for EDP1815, the lead inflammation program, indicating potential progress.
- Management change raises concerns about continuity and experience gaps in the executive team.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evelo Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:EVLO), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a new modality of orally delivered product candidates which act in the small intestine to drive systemic effects, today announced the appointment of Jonathan Zung, Ph.D., as Chief Development Officer and a member of the Evelo Executive Team. Dr. Zung is an established industry veteran, who brings more than 25 years of global pharmaceutical development and commercialization experience to Evelo.
“We welcome Jonathan to the Evelo team at this exciting time in the Company’s growth, including recently reporting positive atopic dermatitis and psoriasis data for EPD1815, our lead inflammation program. He has established an exceptional track record over the course of his career advancing drug development programs and building clinical operations globally, across all stages of development, and in an array of therapeutic areas,” said Simba Gill, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Evelo. “Jonathan’s expertise is particularly well-suited for this moment in Evelo’s trajectory, as we advance into later stages of development and expand our portfolio. We look forward to his leadership as we continue to deliver on our mission of providing effective, safe, oral therapies to patients with inflammatory diseases and cancer.”
Dr. Zung joins Evelo from WCG Clinical, where he served as the President of Sponsor and CRO Programs. Prior to WCG Clinical, he served as the Group President of Clinical Development and Commercialization Services at Covance Drug Development, where he led a global organization of over 8,000 employees in 60 countries spanning all phases of development (Phase 1-4), along with global market access services. Dr. Zung has also held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at UCB, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Pfizer.
“This is an exciting time to be joining the Evelo team,” said Dr. Zung. “Over the last year, the Company has reported clinical and preclinical data across their inflammatory disease and cancer programs, which demonstrate the power of SINTAX as a therapeutic target, and the potential to reduce systemic inflammation without systemic exposure. I believe there is tremendous potential in this new modality of medicine and look forward to working with the team to advance the company’s product candidates from ideation to market.”
About Evelo Biosciences
Evelo Biosciences is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing orally delivered product candidates that are designed to act on SINTAX™, the small intestinal axis, with systemic therapeutic effects. SINTAX plays a central role in governing the immune, metabolic, and neurological systems. The company’s first product candidates are pharmaceutical preparations of single strains of microbes selected for the potential to offer defined pharmacological properties. Evelo’s therapies have the potential to be effective, safe, and affordable medicines to improve the lives of people with inflammatory diseases and cancer.
Evelo currently has four product candidates in development: EDP1815, EDP1867, and EDP2939 for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and EDP1908 for the treatment of cancer. Evelo is advancing additional product candidates in other disease areas.
For more information, please visit www.evelobio.com and engage with Evelo on LinkedIn.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including statements concerning the development of EDP1815 and the promise and potential impact of our other product candidates.
These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, including our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and the continuity of our business; we have incurred significant losses, are not currently profitable and may never become profitable; our need for additional funding; our limited operating history; our unproven approach to therapeutic intervention; the lengthy, expensive, and uncertain process of clinical drug development, including potential delays in regulatory approval; our reliance on third parties and collaborators to expand our microbial library, conduct our clinical trials, manufacture our product candidates, and develop and commercialize our product candidates, if approved; our lack of experience in manufacturing, selling, marketing, and distributing our product candidates; failure to compete successfully against other drug companies; protection of our proprietary technology and the confidentiality of our trade secrets; potential lawsuits for, or claims of, infringement of third-party intellectual property or challenges to the ownership of our intellectual property; our patents being found invalid or unenforceable; risks associated with international operations; our ability to retain key personnel and to manage our growth; the potential volatility of our common stock; our management and principal stockholders have the ability to control or significantly influence our business; costs and resources of operating as a public company; unfavorable or no analyst research or reports; and securities class action litigation against us.
These and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2020, and our other reports filed with the SEC, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
Contact
Jessica Cotrone, 978-760-5622
jcotrone@evelobio.com
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