TG Therapeutics Strengthens Executive Team with the Addition of Owen A. O’Connor, MD, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer

NEW YORK, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TG Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: TGTX), today announced that Owen A. O’Connor, MD, PhD, has joined the Company as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. O’Connor brings extensive scientific experience in developing drug candidates in oncology and hematology, and most recently served as a Professor of Medicine and Experimental Therapeutics, the Director of the Center for Lymphoid Malignancies, and Co-Program Director of the Lymphoid Development and Malignancy Program in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center.
Michael S. Weiss, the Company’s Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Owen to the TG team. He has worked closely with us since our inception, including chairing our very first advisory board over 9 years ago and leading our first US-based Phase 1 clinical trial for ublituximab, as well as a participating in the first umbralisib Phase 1 and the ongoing UNITY-NHL study. Owen has also been a driving force in exploring the underlying science around umbralisib’s clinical profile, pioneering the research detailing the differentiation of umbralisib and its unique inhibition of CK1 epsilon. Owen’s scientific expertise, clinical perspective and drug development experience will make him a pivotal team member, as we strive toward the next generations of our combinatorial approach to attacking B-cell diseases, with the goal of developing better treatment options for those patients in need.” Dr. O’Connor stated, “I am excited to be joining the team at TG Therapeutics, which I believe has done an excellent job to date in developing its pipeline across B-cell diseases. I have always believed in the potential of umbralisib and the U2 combination and the positive topline results from the UNITY-CLL trial this week further validate my belief.” Dr. O’Connor continued, “In my practice, I have seen first-hand the continued need patients have for additional treatment options. Like many of my colleagues working on this clinical research, I see a bright future for TG’s pipeline, and more broadly, the company’s combinatorial approach. I am confident my background in both the laboratory and clinic can help shape next generation combinations from their existing portfolio, while also helping to refine a precision medicine approach through the identification of future targets that may complement TG’s orthogonal attack on B-cell malignancies.”Owen A. O’Connor, MD, PhD, an international authority in lymphoma and drug development, with more than 25 years of experience in academic medicine, joins TG as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. O’Connor is widely recognized for his contributions to the field, having pioneered the development of several first in class drugs leading to regulatory approval, including the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors belinostat and vorinostat, and co-invented and led the international development of pralatrexate, which became the first drug approved for patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma, now approved in over 35 countries around the world. A past member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC), he has also successfully aided in filling New Drug Applications in China, Japan, and Taiwan, as well as the European Medicines Agency (EMA). He has held a number of prestigious leadership positions in the major cancer centers in New York City including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he held a faculty position for a decade leading the Laboratory of Experimental Therapeutics for the Lymphoid Malignancies, and Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, and Deputy Cancer Center Director at the New York University Medical Center prior to joining Columbia. Dr. O’Connor has published over 200 articles in peer reviewed journals, books and book chapters and reviews on the management of lymphoma, in addition to being a member of several important advisory boards, including the Scientific Advisory Board for the Lymphoma Research Foundation. He has received countless awards for his research, including being named to Americas Top Cancer Doctors, being named among the Top 50 Irish-Americans in Science and Medicine by the Irish government, and being inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. He is also recipient of the American Cancer Society Research Professorship, the most prestigious honor bestowed by the Society.CONTACT:Jenna Bosco
Senior Vice President,
Corporate Communications
TG Therapeutics, Inc.
Telephone: 212.554.4351
Email: ir@tgtxinc.com