ERYTECH proposes the appointment of Dr. Jean-Paul Kress as Chairman of the Board of Directors

LYON, France, May 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ERYTECH Pharma (Euronext Paris: ERYP - Nasdaq: ERYP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies by encapsulating therapeutic drug substances inside red blood cells, is announcing that the Board of Directors will propose the appointment of Jean-Paul Kress as a Director at the Annual General Meeting on June 21, 2019, with a view to appointing him as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Dr. Kress possesses over 25 years’ experience as a senior executive in international biotech and pharma groups.

"I’m delighted that Jean-Paul Kress has agreed to join us to chair our Board of Directors. With our decision to split the duties of Chairman from those of Chief Executive Officer, we are taking concrete steps to enhance our governance strategy in preparation for the next stages in our Company’s development,” commented Gil Beyen, currently ERYTECH’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, who will stay on as Chief Executive Officer and a Director. "This represents a unique opportunity for us since Jean-Paul is well-known in the biopharmaceutical industry for his scientific and operational expertise, and for his international network of contacts, both of which will be highly beneficial for ERYTECH”.

Dr. Kress, M.D., was President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Syntimmune from January 2018 until its acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals in November 2018 for up to $1.2 billion. Prior to joining Syntimmune, Dr. Kress served as Executive Vice President, President of International and Head of Global Therapeutic Operations at Biogen Inc. Previously, Dr. Kress served as Senior Vice President, Head of North America at Sanofi Genzyme. From July 2011 to September 2015, Dr. Kress served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi Pasteur MSD, a leading European vaccine company. Prior to this, Dr. Kress worked at Gilead, Abbvie and Eli Lilly in senior commercial and business development roles in the United States and in Europe.

He was a member of Sarepta Therapeutics’ Board of Directors from 2015 until 2017.

Jean-Paul Kress holds an M.D. degree from Faculté Necker-Enfants Malades in Paris, and graduate and post-graduate degrees from École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Dr. Kress commented: "I am excited to join ERYTECH at this stage of its development, not far from a expected commercial launch. ERYTECH stands out clearly among biotech companies with its unique high-potential technology, supported by a large volume of promising clinical data. I would like to thank Gil Beyen and ERYTECH’s Board of Directors and look forward to a productive collaboration.”

About ERYTECH: www.erytech.com

ERYTECH is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative red blood cell-based therapeutics for cancer and orphan diseases. Leveraging its proprietary ERYCAPS platform, a novel technology to encapsulate drug substances inside red blood cells, ERYTECH is developing a pipeline of product candidates to address markets with high unmet medical needs.

ERYTECH’s primary focus is on the development of product candidates that target the altered metabolism of cancer cells by depriving them of amino acids necessary for their growth and survival. The Company’s lead product candidate, eryaspase, which consists of L-asparaginase encapsulated inside donor-derived red blood cells, targets the cancer cell’s altered asparagine and glutamine metabolism. Eryaspase is in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of second-line pancreatic cancer and in preparations to enter Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. ERYTECH’s next product candidate erymethionase, which consists of methionine-gamma-lyase encapsulated in red blood cells to target methionine-dependent cancers, has demonstrated promising preclinical results and is in preparations to enter Phase 1 clinical development.

ERYTECH is also exploring the use of its ERYCAPS platform for developing cancer immunotherapies (ERYMMUNE) and enzyme therapies (ERYZYME).

ERYTECH produces product candidates at its GMP-approved manufacturing site in Lyon, France, and at the American Red Cross in Philadelphia, USA. A large-scale GMP manufacturing facility has recently completed construction in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

ERYTECH is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in the United States (ticker: ERYP) and on the Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0011471135, ticker: ERYP). ERYTECH is part of the CAC Healthcare, CAC Pharma & Bio, CAC Mid & Small, CAC All Tradable, EnterNext PEA-PME 150 and Next Biotech indexes.

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