Atea Pharmaceuticals Appoints Arthur S. Kirsch to Board of Directors

BOSTON, Feb. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVIR) (Atea or Company), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of oral antiviral therapeutics for serious viral diseases, today announced the appointment of Arthur S. Kirsch to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Kirsch has decades of experience in investment banking and capital markets, as well as extensive knowledge of the healthcare and life sciences industries.

Mr. Kirsch is currently a Senior Advisor with Alvarez & Marsal’s Life Sciences Industry Group, and over the course of his 30-year career has held numerous roles in mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets at global investment banks. Over that time, he executed a wide range of strategic advisory assignments for clients in the healthcare and life sciences industries as well as numerous public and private financings.

“We are very pleased to have Arthur join our Board of Directors. His extensive financial and strategic advisory experience will further strengthen the Atea Board as we advance our strategic priorities,” said Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Atea. “Arthur’s proven track record of executing and overseeing transactions will be invaluable as we pursue opportunities to enhance shareholder value, including the exploration of strategic partnerships related to our Phase 3 program, the combination of bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir, a potentially best-in-class regimen for the treatment of hepatitis C virus.”

Since July 2019, Mr. Kirsch has served as a Senior Advisor with Alvarez & Marsal’s Life Sciences Industry Group. From June 2005 until June 2019, Mr. Kirsch served as a Managing Director and Senior Advisor for GCA Global, LLC, a global investment banking firm. From May 1994 to May 2004, he served as Head of Research at Vector Securities, LLC, a brokerage firm. Prior to that, Mr. Kirsch served as CEO of NatWest Securities Limited, where he was responsible for managing the global securities business. Mr. Kirsch began his career at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., an investment banking firm.

Mr. Kirsch serves on the Board of Directors of Liquidia Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: LQDA). He previously served on the Board of Kadmon Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: KDMN), where he was a member of the Transaction Committee involved in overseeing its sale to Sanofi, as well as Immunomedics, POZEN Inc. and Aralez, Inc.

Mr. Kirsch received his B.A. in Finance from the University of Rhode Island and earned his MBA in Finance from Bernard M. Baruch College.

About Atea Pharmaceuticals

Atea is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing oral antiviral therapies to address the unmet medical needs of patients with serious viral infections. Leveraging Atea’s deep understanding of antiviral drug development, nucleos(t)ide chemistry, biology, biochemistry and virology, Atea has built a proprietary nucleos(t)ide prodrug platform to develop novel product candidates to treat single stranded ribonucleic acid, or ssRNA, viruses, which are a prevalent cause of serious viral diseases. Atea plans to continue to build its pipeline of antiviral product candidates by augmenting its nucleos(t)ide platform with other classes of antivirals that may be used in combination with its nucleos(t)ide product candidates. Our lead program and current focus is on the development of the combination of bemnifosbuvir, a nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor and ruzasvir, an NS5A inhibitor, to treat hepatitis C virus. For more information, please visit
www.ateapharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include but are not limited to statements regarding the contributions of Mr. Kirsch to the Atea Board of Directors and Atea’s opportunities to enhance shareholder value. When used herein, words including “expected,” “should,” “anticipated,” “believe.” “will,” “plans”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are based upon Atea’s current expectations and various assumptions. Atea believes there is a reasonable basis for its expectations and beliefs, but they are inherently uncertain. Atea may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Atea’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 as such factors may be updated from time to time in its other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While Atea may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, it disclaims any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Atea’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Contacts

Jonae Barnes
SVP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
617-818-2985
Barnes.jonae@ateapharma.com

Contacts

Jonae Barnes
SVP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
617-818-2985
barnes.jonae@ateapharma.com

Tim McCarthy
LifeSci Advisors
+1 917-679-9282
tim@lifesciadvisors.com