Epizyme Broadens Executive Leadership Team With Experienced New Officer And Senior Management

Susan Graf joins as Chief Business Officer

• Jeannie Chu joined as Vice President of Program and Portfolio Management

• Michael Boretti, Ph.D. joined as Vice President of Business Development

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Epizyme, Inc. (NASDAQ:EPZM), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company creating novel epigenetic therapies for people with cancer, today announced that it has expanded its executive leadership team with the addition of Susan Graf, who joins the company as Chief Business Officer. Ms. Graf will report directly to Epizyme’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Bazemore. Additionally, over the last quarter, Jeannie Chu joined the company as Vice President of Program and Portfolio Management and Michael Boretti joined as Vice President of Business Development.

“The addition of these talented individuals comes at an important time for us, as we execute our new corporate strategy to guide our growth over the next five years,” said Mr. Bazemore. “Jeannie and Michael have already brought invaluable insight to the programs and strategic plans for the company. Susan’s significant experience leading corporate strategy and organizational transformation positions us very well as we prepare for the growth of Epizyme through the launch of tazemetostat and beyond.”

Ms. Graf commented: “I am delighted to join the talented team already in place at Epizyme. Through scientific excellence and pipeline innovation, the company has quickly become a leader in the discovery and development of epigenetic oncology drugs. Leveraging this expertise presents a number of exciting opportunities and I look forward to playing a contributing role in this growth.”

Susan Graf

As Epizyme’s first Chief Business Officer, Ms. Graf will oversee and direct the implementation of Epizyme’s new corporate strategy and lead corporate and business development and alliance management. An accomplished global biotechnology executive with more than 20 years of broad industry experience, Ms. Graf was most recently Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy for NPS Pharma before it was acquired by Shire in 2015. Ms. Graf was intimately involved in the company’s sale to Shire, in addition to serving on the executive team that transformed NPS Pharma into a global, commercial-stage, rare-disease biopharmaceutical company. During Ms. Graf’s tenure, NPS Pharma brought two rare disease products – Gattex® and Natpara® – to market. Prior to NPS Pharma, Ms. Graf spent nearly 18 years at Roche in a number of leadership and executive positions in business development, commercial assessment, due diligence, mergers & acquisitions, marketing, market research, sales and manufacturing. Ms. Graf was recognized as a Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Rising Star in 2011 and has been named to Purdue University’s ’40 Under 40’ list.

Jeannie Chu

Jeannie joined Epizyme in February 2016 as Vice President of Program and Portfolio Management. In this role, Jeannie has begun to create structured, cross-functional project teams to oversee the development and commercialization of tazemetostat, as well as development of Epizyme’s portfolio of epigenetic products. Prior to Epizyme, Jeannie held roles of increasing responsibility at Biogen, most recently as Senior Director of Program Leadership and Management. During her 11-year tenure at Biogen, she served as Program Director and led the development teams for the nusinersen, Zinbryta™, lixivaptan, and Tysabri® programs. She was also Director of the Emerging Markets Commercial group. Jeannie holds an M.B.A. from the STERN School of Business at New York University.

Michael Boretti, Ph.D.

Michael joined Epizyme as Vice President of Business Development in March 2016. In this role, Michael has already begun to lead new partnering opportunities, as well as ongoing alliances. Prior to Epizyme, Michael worked in roles of increasing responsibility at AVEO Oncology from 2008 to March 2016, most recently serving as Vice President, Corporate Development and Alliance Management. Prior to joining AVEO, Michael was a consultant in the life sciences practice at L.E.K. Consulting, a global strategy consulting firm. Michael received his Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

About Epizyme, Inc.

Epizyme, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company creating novel epigenetic therapeutics for cancer patients. Epizyme has built a proprietary product platform that the Company uses to create small molecule inhibitors of chromatin modifying proteins (CMPs), such as histone methyltransferases or HMTs. CMPs are part of the system of gene regulation, referred to as epigenetics, that controls gene expression. Genetic alterations can result in changes to the activity of CMPs, making them oncogenic (cancer-causing). By focusing on the genetic drivers of cancers, Epizyme's targeted science seeks to match the right medicines with the right patients.

For more information, visit www.epizyme.com and connect with us on Twitter at @EpizymeRx.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Epizyme, Inc. and other statements containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "target," "potential," "will," "would," "could," "should," "continue," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the initiation of future clinical studies or expansion of ongoing clinical studies, availability and timing of data from ongoing clinical studies, whether interim results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of the trial or the results of future trials, expectations for regulatory approvals to conduct trials or to market products, availability of funding sufficient for the Company's foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements, other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of the Company's therapeutic candidates and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 9, 2016 and in the Company's other filings from time to time with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

Contacts

Investors:
Rebecca Cohen, 617-401-0722
Epizyme, Inc.
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
rcohen@epizyme.com

Media:
Michael Lampe, 484-575-5040
Scient Public Relations
michael@scientpr.com

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