Atea Pharmaceuticals Appoints Jerome Adams, M.D., M.P.H., to Board of Directors
Former U.S. Surgeon General Brings Wealth of Clinical and Public Health Experience
BOSTON, May 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of next-generation therapeutics for severe viral infections, today announced the appointment of Jerome Adams, M.D., M.P.H., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Adams most recently served as Surgeon General of the United States and brings a wide range of experience spanning clinical practice, clinical research, public health, and government agency leadership.
“We are honored to welcome Dr. Adams to our Board of Directors, as his unique experience as Surgeon General during the COVID-19 pandemic will undoubtedly help guide Atea as we continue to advance our antiviral pipeline, including our global Phase 3 MORNINGSKY trial of AT-527 for the treatment of COVID-19,” said Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Atea Pharmaceuticals.
“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of citizens and governments throughout the world on public health and infectious diseases is extremely high. With AT-527, Atea has the potential to bring an easily administered oral antiviral to help in the fight against this global public health crisis. I am looking forward to lending my expertise to help advance this important program, while also supporting Atea in the development of its broader antiviral pipeline for severe viral diseases,” commented Dr. Adams.
Dr. Adams served as the 20th Surgeon General of the United States from 2017 to 2021, where he focused on the opioid epidemic and was a member of the COVID-19 Task Force. Prior to that, he served as the State Health Commissioner for Indiana from 2014 to 2017, where he presided over Indiana’s efforts to deal with state-wide, unprecedented HIV outbreak. Before beginning his public service in 2014, Dr. Adams was a practicing anesthesiologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at Indiana University. Earlier in his career, Dr. Adams was a Clinical Research Assistant at Eli Lilly and Company. He has served in leadership positions at a number of professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, the Indiana State Medical Association, and the Indiana Society of Anesthesiologists.
Dr. Adams received a B.S. in Biochemistry and B.A. in Psychology from the University of Maryland and holds an M.P.H. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.D. from Indiana University School of Medicine.
About Atea Pharmaceuticals
Atea Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies to address the unmet medical needs of patients with life-threatening viral diseases. Leveraging the Company’s deep understanding of antiviral drug development, nucleos(t)ide chemistry, biology, biochemistry and virology, Atea has built a proprietary nucleotide prodrug platform to develop novel product candidates to treat single stranded ribonucleic acid, or ssRNA, viruses, which are a prevalent cause of severe viral diseases. Currently, Atea is focused on the development of orally-available, potent, and selective nucleotide prodrugs for difficult-to-treat, life-threatening viral infections, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, dengue virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). For more information, please visit www.ateapharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding our expectations surrounding the potential of our product candidates, in particular AT-527, and expectations regarding our pipeline. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: uncertainty around and costs associated with the development of AT-527 as a potential treatment for COVID-19 and our other product candidates; dependence on management, directors and other key personnel; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business; our limited operating history and significant losses since inception; our need for substantial additional funding; our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards; our dependence on the success of our most advanced product candidates; risks related to the regulatory approval process; risks associated with the clinical development process; risks related to healthcare laws and other legal compliance matters; risks related to potential commercialization; risks related to manufacturing and our dependence on third parties; risks relating to intellectual property; our ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and the significant costs as a result of operating as a public company. These and other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and our other filings with the SEC 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 we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
Contacts
Jonae Barnes
SVP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
617-818-2985
Barnes.jonae@ateapharma.com
Will O’Connor
Stern Investor Relations
212-362-1200
will.oconnor@sternir.com
