TG Therapeutics Strengthens Executive Team with the Addition of Owen A. O’Connor, MD, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer

NEW YORK, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TG Therapeutics, Inc., Inc. (NASDAQ: TGTX), today announced that Owen A. O’Connor, MD, PhD, has joined the Company as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. O’Connor brings extensive scientific experience in developing drug candidates in oncology and hematology, and most recently served as a Professor of Medicine and Experimental Therapeutics, the Director of the Center for Lymphoid Malignancies, and Co-Program Director of the Lymphoid Development and Malignancy Program in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center.

Michael S. Weiss, the Company's Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Owen to the TG team. He has worked closely with us since our inception, including chairing our very first advisory board over 9 years ago and leading our first US-based Phase 1 clinical trial for ublituximab, as well as a participating in the first umbralisib Phase 1 and the ongoing UNITY-NHL study. Owen has also been a driving force in exploring the underlying science around umbralisib’s clinical profile, pioneering the research detailing the differentiation of umbralisib and its unique inhibition of CK1 epsilon. Owen’s scientific expertise, clinical perspective and drug development experience will make him a pivotal team member, as we strive toward the next generations of our combinatorial approach to attacking B-cell diseases, with the goal of developing better treatment options for those patients in need.” 

Dr. O’Connor stated, “I am excited to be joining the team at TG Therapeutics, which I believe has done an excellent job to date in developing its pipeline across B-cell diseases. I have always believed in the potential of umbralisib and the U2 combination and the positive topline results from the UNITY-CLL trial this week further validate my belief.” Dr. O’Connor continued, “In my practice, I have seen first-hand the continued need patients have for additional treatment options. Like many of my colleagues working on this clinical research, I see a bright future for TG’s pipeline, and more broadly, the company’s combinatorial approach. I am confident my background in both the laboratory and clinic can help shape next generation combinations from their existing portfolio, while also helping to refine a precision medicine approach through the identification of future targets that may complement TG’s orthogonal attack on B-cell malignancies.”

Owen A. O'Connor, MD, PhD, an international authority in lymphoma and drug development, with more than 25 years of experience in academic medicine, joins TG as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. O'Connor is widely recognized for his contributions to the field, having pioneered the development of several first in class drugs leading to regulatory approval, including the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors belinostat and vorinostat, and co-invented and led the international development of pralatrexate, which became the first drug approved for patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma, now approved in over 35 countries around the world. A past member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC), he has also successfully aided in filling New Drug Applications in China, Japan, and Taiwan, as well as the European Medicines Agency (EMA). He has held a number of prestigious leadership positions in the major cancer centers in New York City including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he held a faculty position for a decade leading the Laboratory of Experimental Therapeutics for the Lymphoid Malignancies, and Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, and Deputy Cancer Center Director at the New York University Medical Center prior to joining Columbia. Dr. O’Connor has published over 200 articles in peer reviewed journals, books and book chapters and reviews on the management of lymphoma, in addition to being a member of several important advisory boards, including the Scientific Advisory Board for the Lymphoma Research Foundation. He has received countless awards for his research, including being named to Americas Top Cancer Doctors, being named among the Top 50 Irish-Americans in Science and Medicine by the Irish government, and being inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. He is also recipient of the American Cancer Society Research Professorship, the most prestigious honor bestowed by the Society.

ABOUT TG THERAPEUTICS, INC.
TG Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of novel treatments for B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Currently, the company is developing multiple therapies targeting hematological malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Ublituximab (TG-1101) is a novel, glycoengineered monoclonal antibody that targets a specific and unique epitope on the CD20 antigen found on mature B-lymphocytes. TG Therapeutics is also developing umbralisib (TGR-1202), an oral, once-daily dual inhibitor of PI3K-delta and CK1-epsilon, which may lead to a differentiated safety profile. Both ublituximab and umbralisib, or the combination of which is referred to as "U2", are in Phase 3 clinical development for patients with hematologic malignancies, with ublituximab also in Phase 3 clinical development for Multiple Sclerosis. Additionally, the Company has recently brought into Phase 1 clinical development, its anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, cosibelimab (TG-1501), its covalently-bound Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) inhibitor, TG-1701, as well as its anti-CD47/CD19 bispecific antibody, TG-1801. TG Therapeutics is headquartered in New York City.

Cautionary Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but may not be limited to, statements relating to the clinical development and commercialization of our product candidates and our combinatorial approach and the potential attributes and benefits of our products, either as monotherapy or in combination. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially, including: the risk that we will be unable to successfully and cost-effectively complete preclinical and clinical trials; the risk that early clinical trial results (both safety and efficacy), will not be reproduced in future studies; the risk that our belief that umbralisib has a differentiated safety profile will not be reproduced in our on-going studies; the risk that our products under development do not achieve regulatory approval or become commercially successful; and other risk factors identified from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.   Any forward-looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release and prior releases are available at www.tgtherapeutics.com. The information found on our website is not incorporated by reference into this press release and is included for reference purposes only.

CONTACT:

Jenna Bosco
Senior Vice President,
Corporate Communications
TG Therapeutics, Inc.
Telephone: 212.554.4351
Email: ir@tgtxinc.com

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