Sutro Biopharma Announces Appointment of Jon M. Wigginton, M.D., to Board of Directors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRO), a clinical-stage drug discovery, development and manufacturing company focused on the application of precise protein engineering and rational design to create next-generation cancer and autoimmune therapeutics, today announced that Jon M. Wigginton, M.D., has been appointed to Sutro's Board of Directors.

"As a seasoned global pharmaceutical leader with a passion for drug development and expertise in oncology, Jon brings a wealth of experience to the Board," said Bill Newell, Sutro's Chief Executive Officer. "His impressive successes in leading programs and bridging basic science, translational medicine, and clinical research will be readily transferable to our clinical pipeline of antibody drug-conjugates and our developmental pipeline, including a next-generation approach utilizing Sutro's XpressCF® and XpressCF+™ technologies to take antibody drug-conjugates into the future."

"We are very pleased to welcome Jon to the Sutro Board of Directors at this important time in the Company's journey," said Connie Matsui, Chair of Sutro's Board of Directors. "Jon's experience in immuno-oncology and in advancing scientific discoveries to the clinic make him an invaluable addition to our Board as Sutro continues to develop its proprietary pipeline and grow partnerships to expand the reach of Sutro's novel therapeutics and technology."

Dr. Wigginton is a physician and scientist with expertise in cancer immunotherapy drug development. 

He has over 25 years of experience in clinical oncology, with leadership experience in both academia and industry. Dr. Wigginton is currently Chief Medical Officer of Cullinan Oncology, LLC. and an advisor to MPM Capital. Prior, he was Chief Medical Officer at MacroGenics, where he led the company's clinical development programs. Dr. Wigginton also held leadership positions at Bristol Myers Squibb as Therapeutic Area Head in Immuno-Oncology for Early Clinical Research and as Executive Medical Director and Group Medical Director of Discovery Medicine-Clinical Oncology, and prior to that, Director of Clinical Oncology at Merck & Co. Dr. Wigginton has also served in several positions for the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), including President, Chair of Executive Council, Board of Directors, and leadership roles on various operating committees. Early in his career, Dr. Wigginton worked at the National Cancer Institute for over 14 years, and served as Head of the Investigational Biologics Section in the Center for Cancer Research (intramural program). Dr. Wigginton earned his M.D. from the University of Michigan.

About Sutro Biopharma

Sutro Biopharma, Inc., located in South San Francisco, is a clinical-stage drug discovery, development and manufacturing company. Using precise protein engineering and rational design, Sutro is advancing next-generation oncology therapeutics.

Sutro's proprietary and integrated cell-free protein synthesis platform XpressCF® and site-specific conjugation platform XpressCF+™ led to the discovery of STRO-001 and STRO-002, Sutro's first two internally-developed ADCs. STRO-001 is a CD74-targeting ADC currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial of patients with advanced B-cell malignancies, including multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. STRO-001 was granted Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA for multiple myeloma in October 2018. STRO-002 is a folate receptor alpha (FolRα)-targeting ADC, currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial of patients with ovarian and endometrial cancers. This is the second product candidate to be evaluated in clinical trials resulting from Sutro's XpressCF® and XpressCF+™ technology platforms. A third program, CC-99712 (BCMA-targeting ADC), which is part of Sutro's collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (formerly Celgene Corporation), is enrolling patients for its Phase 1 clinical trial of patients with multiple myeloma. Sutro's proprietary technology was responsible for the discovery and manufacturing of CC-99712, for which Bristol Myers Squibb has worldwide development and commercialization rights. Sutro is entitled to development and regulatory milestone payments and tiered royalties from Bristol Myers Squibb for this BCMA ADC. Sutro is dedicated to transforming the lives of cancer patients by creating medicines with improved therapeutic profiles for areas of unmet need.

To date, Sutro's platform has led to cytokine-based immuno-oncology therapies, ADCs, vaccines and bispecific antibodies directed at precedented targets in clinical indications where the current standard of care is suboptimal. The platform allows it to accelerate discovery and development of potential first-in-class and best-in-class molecules through rapid and systematic evaluation of protein structure-activity relationships to create optimized homogeneous product candidates.

In addition to developing its own oncology pipeline, Sutro is collaborating with select pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discover and develop novel, next-generation therapeutics. As the pace of clinical development accelerates, Sutro and its partners are developing therapeutics designed to more efficiently kill tumors without harming healthy cells.

Additional multimedia content from Sutro regarding STRO-001 and STRO-002 can be found here and here.

Follow Sutro on Twitter, @Sutrobio, and at www.sutrobio.com to learn more about our passion for changing the future of oncology.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, anticipated preclinical and clinical development activities, timing of clinical trials and announcements of clinical results, potential benefits of the company's product candidates and platform and potential market opportunities for the company's product candidates. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, the company cannot guarantee future events, results, actions, levels of activity, performance or achievements, and the timing and results of biotechnology development and potential regulatory approval is inherently uncertain. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause the company's actual activities or results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement, including risks and uncertainties related to the company's ability to advance its product candidates, the receipt and timing of potential regulatory designations, approvals and commercialization of product candidates, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's business, clinical trial sites, supply chain and manufacturing facilities, the Company's ability to maintain and recognize the benefits of certain designations received by product candidates, the timing and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials, the company's ability to fund development activities and achieve development goals, the company's ability to protect intellectual property, and the Company's commercial collaborations with third parties and other risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in documents the company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

Investor Contact 
Annie J. Chang 
Sutro Biopharma 
+1 650-255-8806  
ajchang@sutrobio.com 

Media Contacts 
David Schull 
Russo Partners 
(212) 845-4271 
david.schull@russopartnersllc.com  

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SOURCE Sutro Biopharma