Lycera Announces Appointments Of Leading Experts To Scientific Advisory Board

NEW YORK and ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lycera Corp., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough immune modulatory medicines, today announced the expansion of its scientific advisory board (SAB) to include 11 renowned clinical researchers and scientists. The Company, which recently announced the initiation of its Phase 2 clinical trial of therapeutic candidate, LYC-30937-EC in patients with ulcerative colitis, is advancing a broad R&D pipeline of novel, oral immune modulators for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.

"We are thrilled to announce our accomplished and distinguished group of scientific advisors, each of whom offers world-class experience in many of the most important and rapidly changing disciplines within the health sciences," said Paul Sekhri, President and CEO of Lycera. "Lycera is dedicated to developing innovative therapies for patients who need them, and our frequent interactions with our SAB members will be essential to the further advancement of these programs."

Members of Lycera's scientific advisory board are focused on key aspects of biology, chemistry and clinical practice:

• Harinder Singh, PhD, (Chair), Director of the Division of Immunobiology and the Center for Systems Immunology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
• Jonathan A. Ellman, PhD, Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Pharmacology, Yale University
• Sarah Gaffen, PhD, Gerald P. Rodnan Professor of Rheumatology, University of Pittsburgh
• Adrian Hayday, PhD, FRS, Kay Glendinning Professor of Immunobiology, King's College London
• John McCall, PhD, Consultant, PharMac LLC
• Eliot H. Ohlstein, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Velicept Therapeutics; Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology, Drexel University Medical School
• Sarah J. Schlesinger, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation, The Rockefeller University; Clinical Director, The Laboratory of Molecular Immunology; Senior Physician, The Rockefeller University Hospital
• Mario Sznol, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine, Deputy Section Chief, Medical Oncology, and Leader, Melanoma Translational Working Group, Yale University School of Medicine; Co-Director, Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer
• Laurence A. Turka, MD, Co-director, Center for Transplantation Sciences, Massachusetts General Hospital; Harold and Ellen Danser Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School; Deputy Director, Immune Tolerance Network
• Michael E. Weinblatt, MD, Co-director, Clinical Rheumatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital; John R. and Eileen K. Riedman Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
• Peter Wipf, PhD, Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh; Co-Leader, UPCI Cancer Therapeutics Program

"By exploiting their deep chemical expertise and strongly coupling it with biological acumen, Lycera is developing multiple first-in-class drugs that could transform the therapeutic landscape for treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. This spirit is exemplified in the Company's lead program in immune-oncology where Lycera is advancing an agonist for RORgamma, thereby targeting a key control switch that can activate the immune system to destroy tumor cells.  This novel therapeutic is planned to enter clinical trials by the end of this year.  In parallel, the company is also developing an RORg antagonist for patients with autoimmune disease.  The dual, integrated RORgamma programs showcase Lycera's focus as well as spirit of innovation, which is being consistently applied throughout its promising pipeline," stated Dr. Singh.

About Lycera

Lycera is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel oral immune modulators for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. Based on successful progress of its world-class R&D platform, including expertise in immune metabolism, cell signaling, and immune cell differentiation, Lycera is commencing multiple clinical programs in 2016. The company is advancing a wholly owned, oral, gut-directed ATPase modulator, designated LYC-30937-EC, for the treatment of autoimmune disease, and has entered Phase 2 clinical studies in patients with ulcerative colitis. The Company also is progressing oral RORgamma agonists for diverse applications in immuno-oncology. Lycera has an exclusive strategic collaboration with Celgene Corporation to advance Lycera's proprietary pipeline for cancer and immune-mediated diseases. In addition, Lycera had previously established collaborations with Merck to discover, develop, and commercialize small molecule therapies for autoimmune disorders. For more information on Lycera's pipeline of novel small molecule therapies, please visit http://www.lycera.com/product-pipeline.

Lycera's leadership possesses deep experience in drug discovery, development, and commercialization and has established close relationships with renowned thought leaders and clinical researchers worldwide. Lycera was founded in 2006 based on an initial scientific platform in-licensed from the University of Michigan. Lead investors in Lycera include InterWest Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Clarus Ventures, and EDF Ventures. For more information on Lycera, please visit http://www.lycera.com/.

CONTACT: Justin Jackson, Burns McClellan, 212-213-0006, ext. 327, jjackson@burnsmc.com

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SOURCE Lycera Corp.