InteRNA Appoints Andrea van Elsas, Ph.D. to Scientific Advisory Board

— Co-inventor of original CTLA4-antibody and immuno-oncology innovator
to expand the Company’s clinical development expertise —

UTRECHT, The Netherlands–(BUSINESS WIRE)–InteRNA Technologies announced today the appointment of Andrea van
Elsas, Ph.D., as a new member of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board
(SAB). Dr. van Elsas is an immuno-oncology expert with over 20 years of
experience in advancing highly innovative oncology assets and currently
serves as Chief Scientific Officer of Aduro Biotech. In his role on the
SAB, Dr. van Elsas will support InteRNA’s pipeline development efforts
and in particular the positioning and strategy for lead program INT-1B3
advancing into clinical development. Dr. van Elsas will succeed Allan
Balmain, Ph.D., F.R.S., who has stepped down from his position on the
board.

“Andrea has always worked at the heart of cancer therapy drug discovery
efforts and his outstanding track record in identifying and developing
innovative therapeutics will be a great benefit to us,” said Dr. Roel
Schaapveld, CEO of InteRNA. “With his added oversight, we aim to further
advance GLP toxicology studies and move towards the clinical evaluation
of our promising lead candidate, INT-1B3, in the immuno-oncology field.
We also would like to thank Allan for sharing his knowledge and
providing significant contributions to our R&D programs over the years.”

“InteRNA has developed a uniquely positioned RNA therapy attacking
cancer from multiple angles, with the potential of inducing durable
immunity as a single agent and in combination therapy,” said Dr. van
Elsas. “I am impressed by the team’s profound work on defining the
mode-of-action and selecting an optimized delivery technology for
INT-1B3 and am thrilled to contribute to the advancement of this novel
therapeutic strategy.”

Prior to his position as CSO of Aduro Biotech, Dr. van
Elsas was CSO of Aduro Biotech Europe from 2015 to 2017. He joined Aduro
following the 2015 acquisition of BioNovion, a company he co-founded and
served as CSO, that was focused on the development of innovative
therapeutic antibodies in the field of immuno-oncology. In addition, Dr.
van Elsas supports Gilde Healthcare as an Operational Partner in the
evaluation of investment opportunities and has been acting as VP of
Research for Gilde’s portfolio company, AM Pharma, since 2011. From 1999
to 2011, he held various positions of increasing responsibilities at
Organon (acquired by Schering-Plough Corporation and later by Merck) in
Oss, The Netherlands, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. As Organon’s
Director of Tumor Immunology he oversaw the immuno-oncology portfolio
and led the anti-PD1 program that later became known as pembrolizumab.
As a post-doc he worked in the lab of Nobel Laureate Jim Allison at the
University of California, Berkeley and is a co-inventor on the original
anti-CTLA4 patents that formed the basis for the development of
ipilimumab (YervoyTM), the first checkpoint inhibitor
approved for the treatment of melanoma. Dr. van Elsas holds a Ph.D. in
Immunology and Oncology from the University of Leiden.

About INT-1B3

INT-1B3’s unique MoA addresses multiple hallmarks of cancer
simultaneously. It directly targets tumor cells and the tumor
microenvironment by specific modulation of multiple pathway components
(such as CDK4/6, CyclinD1, MCL1, MPP2, STMN1, CD39/73, EZH2, TIM3, TGFb2
and HMGB1) resulting in tumor cell cycle arrest and induction of
apoptosis as well as downregulation of the adenosine-A2A receptor
pathway and immunosuppressive FoxP3/Lag3 Tregs. In parallel,
the immune system is activated and long-term immunity is triggered by
recruitment of CD8+ Teffs leading to decreased
metastases development and improved animal survival over anti-PD1
treatment. The created CD8+ T cell immune response activity is also
transferrable to naive mice via adoptive T cell transfer.

About InteRNA Technologies

InteRNA is developing a pipeline of proprietary preclinical microRNA
drug candidates targeting key processes in initiation and progression of
human diseases, with a focus on cancer. Enabled with a 3rd
generation drug delivery formulation, these miRNA compounds can mount a
coordinated anti-cancer attack by engaging multiple signal transduction
targets simultaneously. With this approach, we address the high need for
novel therapeutics with improved efficacy and less drug resistance that
benefit cancer patients.

Contacts

InteRNA Technologies
Dr. Roel Schaapveld, CEO
Phone:
+31-(0)30-253-23-86
E-mail: schaapveld@interna-technologies.com

Trophic Communications
Dr. Stephanie May or Joanne Tudorica
Phone:
+49 2388 7733 30 or +49 171 185 56 82
E-mail: may@trophic.eu
or tudorica@trophic.eu

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