SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 20, 2021 /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 the promotion of Chief Scientific Officer Trevor Hallam, Ph.D., to President of Research. Dr. Hallam will also continue his role as Chief Scientific Officer.

"Since joining Sutro as CSO more than 10 years ago, Trevor has been instrumental in the development of our cell-free protein synthesis platform from a novel but immature technology to a robust multi-modality platform with a proven manufacturing capability. Additionally, Trevor conceived of and drove our vision to initially focus the platform on antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). Using Sutro's platform for ADCs captures the advantages and power of our proprietary cell-free technology and has enabled the development of novel, potentially best-in-class compounds including STRO-001, STRO-002, CC-99712 in collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb, and M1231 in collaboration with Merck KGaA, EMD Serono," said Bill Newell, Sutro's Chief Executive Officer. "Building on the superiority of our cell-free enabled design approach to ADCs, Sutro is expanding to other modalities and applications which require precision protein engineering, including cytokine derivatives and bispecific antibodies. As President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer, Trevor's continued leadership will be essential to our strategic initiative to maximize the broad potential of our platform both through further internal research and development and through strategic relationships."

Connie Matsui, Chair of Sutro's Board of Directors, added, "Trevor's passion for novel technologies coupled with his extensive experience in drug discovery and development will continue to drive value creation for all stakeholders in his new role. Trevor has built an outstanding multidisciplinary team who share his zeal for translating science into therapeutics that improve patient lives. He has also developed highly productive relationships with our collaborators and partners. We congratulate Trevor on this well-deserved promotion and share his excitement for Sutro's next stage of research innovation."

Dr. Hallam has served as Sutro's Chief Scientific Officer since December 2010, bringing more than 35 years of drug discovery experience. Prior to joining Sutro, Dr. Hallam was Executive Vice President of Research & Development at Palatin Technologies, Inc., and held several senior management positions in various pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca PLC, SmithKline & French Laboratories, Ltd., Glaxo Group Research Ltd., Roche Research and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer. Dr. Hallam received a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Leeds and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Kings College, University of London. He then conducted post-doctoral training at the Physiological Laboratory, University of Cambridge.

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. A third product candidate, 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 and has received Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA for multiple myeloma. A fourth product candidate, M1231, (MUC1-EGFR, first-in-class bispecific ADC), which is part of Sutro's collaboration with Merck KGaA, EMD Serono (EMD Serono) is enrolling patients for its Phase 1 clinical trial of patients with metastatic solid tumors, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The four product candidates above being evaluated in clinical trials resulted from Sutro's XpressCF^® and XpressCF+™ technology platforms. Bristol Myers Squibb and EMD Serono have worldwide development and commercialization rights for CC-99712 and M1231, respectively, for which Sutro is entitled to milestone or contingent payments and tiered royalties.

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.

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 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 and clinical trials, the Company's ability to fund development activities and achieve development goals, the Company's ability to protect intellectual property, the value of the Company's holdings of Vaxcyte common stock, 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 Contacts
Annie J. Chang
Sutro Biopharma
(650) 801-5728
ajchang@sutrobio.com

Media Contacts
Maggie Beller
Russo Partners
(646) 942-5631
Maggie.beller@russopartnersllc.com

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SOURCE Sutro Biopharma