Idera Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointments of Elizabeth A. Tarka, MD, FACC as Chief Medical Officer and John J. Kirby as Ch...
July 23 2019 - 7:30AM
Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDRA) today announced the
appointments of Elizabeth A. Tarka, MD, FACC as Chief Medical
Officer and the promotion of John J. Kirby to Chief Financial
Officer. Dr. Tarka was most recently the Vice President of Clinical
Development at Complexa, Incorporated. Mr. Kirby has led Idera’s
finance department as Principal Financial Officer and Principal
Accounting Officer since October 2018.
“We are extremely pleased to bring Liz onto our team during this
critical period for Idera as we advance tilsotolimod through its
registrational trial in patients suffering from refractory
metastatic melanoma and continue development work to bring the
therapy to patients beyond melanoma,” stated Vincent Milano,
Idera’s Chief Executive Officer. “Throughout her career, Liz has
demonstrated a strong track record of clinical development across
therapeutic categories, which will benefit our company greatly as
we work to deliver against our tilsotolimod objectives and as we
also continue to aggressively explore growth opportunities in the
rare disease space.”
Dr. Tarka’s experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology
industry includes leadership roles across all phases of late stage
clinical development and reflects the ability to effectively
partner with stakeholders to enable the successful execution of
clinical trials. Prior to joining Complexa, she served as Clinical
Program Leader for Xarelto® (rivaroxaban) at Janssen
Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for the design,
implementation and medical oversight for large multinational
trials. She also held various positions of increasing
responsibility at GlaxoSmithKline in the Metabolic Pathways and
Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area. She has been on the faculty and
had numerous major teaching and clinical responsibilities at the
University of Pennsylvania and affiliated hospitals. She is trained
in Cardiology and Internal Medicine and has published in a number
of peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Tarka earned a BA in Biochemistry
and an MD from the University of Pennsylvania where she also
completed her residency and fellowship training.
“I am excited to join the Idera team and continue to advance
tilsotolimod through the ILLUMINATE-301 trial to understand the
potential benefits of this novel approach in treating patients with
anti-PD-1 refractory melanoma,” stated Dr. Tarka. “I’m eager
to work with this team to also realize the broader applications of
tilsotolimod and identify additional rare disease assets to help
drive the future growth of our company.”
Mr. Kirby has been the Company’s Vice President of Finance since
July 2018. Before joining Idera in 2015, Mr. Kirby served as
Assistant Controller at Endo Pharmaceuticals. Prior to
joining Endo, Mr. Kirby served as Vice President, Chief Accounting
Officer and Corporate Controller at ViroPharma Incorporated. Mr.
Kirby began his career at KPMG, LLP and served as a Regional Audit
Director at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals prior to joining
ViroPharma. Mr. Kirby received his Bachelor of Science from
Villanova University and is a licensed certified public
accountant.
“John has done a tremendous job leading our finance operations
and team, and I am looking forward to continuing to work together
with him as our Chief Financial Officer,” continued Milano.
About Idera PharmaceuticalsHarnessing the
approach of the earliest researchers in immunotherapy and the
Company’s vast experience in developing proprietary immunology
platforms, Idera’s lead development program is focused on priming
the immune system to play a more powerful role in fighting cancer,
ultimately increasing the number of people who can benefit from
immunotherapy. Idera also continues to focus on the acquisition,
development and ultimate commercialization of drug candidates for
both oncology and rare disease indications characterized by small,
well-defined patient populations with serious unmet needs. To learn
more about Idera, visit www.iderapharma.com.
Forward Looking Statements This press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements,
other than statements of historical fact, included or incorporated
in this press release, including statements regarding the Company's
strategy, future operations, collaborations, intellectual property,
cash resources, financial position, future revenues, projected
costs, prospects, clinical trials, plans, and objectives of
management, are forward-looking statements. The words "believes,"
"anticipates," "estimates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "may,"
"could," "should," "potential," "likely," "projects," "continue,"
"will," and "would" and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements, although not all
forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Idera
cannot guarantee that it will actually achieve the plans,
intentions or expectations disclosed in its forward-looking
statements and you should not place undue reliance on the Company's
forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors
that could cause Idera's actual results to differ materially from
those indicated or implied by its forward-looking statements.
Factors that may cause such a difference include: whether the
Company’s cash resources will be sufficient to fund the Company’s
continuing operations and the further development of the Company’s
programs for the period anticipated; whether interim results from a
clinical trial, will be predictive of the final results of the
trial; whether results obtained in preclinical studies and clinical
trials will be indicative of the results that will be generated in
future clinical trials, including in clinical trials in different
disease indications; whether products based on Idera's technology
will advance into or through the clinical trial process when
anticipated or at all or warrant submission for regulatory
approval; whether such products will receive approval from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory
agencies; whether, if the Company's products receive approval, they
will be successfully distributed and marketed; whether the
Company's collaborations will be successful; and such other
important factors as are set forth under the caption "Risk factors"
in the Company’s Annual Report filed on Form 10-K for the period
ended December 31, 2018. While Idera may elect to do so at some
point in the future, the Company does not assume any obligation to
update any forward-looking statements and it disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
IDERA PHARMACEUTICALS Contact:
Robert A. Doody, Jr.SVP, Investor Relations &
CommunicationsPhone (484) 348-1677RDOODY@IDERAPHARMA.COM
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