Aligos Therapeutics Strengthens Board with Two New Independent Directors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 8, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALGS, “Aligos,” the “Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies to address unmet medical needs in liver and viral diseases, today announced the appointment of Heather Preston, MD and Margarita Chavez, JD as Class II independent directors to its Board of Directors, effective August 7, 2024. Dr. Preston will join the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee as Chairman and Ms. Chavez will join the Audit Committee.

“We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Heather Preston and Margarita Chavez to our Board of Directors,” said Lawrence Blatt, Ph.D., MBA, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aligos Therapeutics. “Both Heather and Margarita bring significant expertise in the life sciences, and we look forward to their important contributions to Aligos’ success.”

Heather Preston is a seasoned healthcare investor and company builder with over 30 years of industry experience. She is currently a Senior Advisor to TPG Biotech and serves on the boards of Oxford Biomedica (OXB:LSE), Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT:LSE) and Azura Opthalmics. She was previously Managing Partner of Pivotal BioVentures and a Corporate Partner and Managing Director at TPG Biotech. She has also held investment positions at JP Morgan Partners and New Enterprise Associates. Prior to her investment career, Dr Preston spent five years at McKinsey & Co where she was the leader of their Pharmaceuticals and Medical Products consulting practice. Dr Preston has a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of London and a Medical Degree from the University of Oxford. Dr. Preston completed her postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute of Harvard University and her internal medicine training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and her specialty training in gastroenterology and hepatology at UCSF. During her academic career, she has been the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, a Fulbright Cancer Research Scholarship, a Harlech Scholarship, and a Science and Engineering Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award.

“I am thrilled to join the Aligos board,” said Dr. Heather Preston. “This is an exciting time as Aligos has two potentially best-in-class oral drugs for MASH and CHB. I look forward to working with the other board members and the senior leadership team as the company continues to advance promising drug candidates to the clinic.”

Margarita Chavez is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with over 25 years of transactional experience in the healthcare industry. She is currently a Venture Partner at Wellington Partners and is an independent investor and advisor in early stage biotechnology. Margarita also serves on the board of Newron Pharmaceuticals (NWRN:SIX). Margarita was previously a Managing Director at AbbVie Ventures and was responsible for investments in Morphic Therapeutics, Alector Therapeutics, Carisma Therapeutics, Jnana Therapeutics, Enthera Pharmaceutials, Palleon Pharmaceuticals and Accent Therapeutics, among others. As a Director on the Abbott/AbbVie Licensing and Acquisitions team, Margarita was involved in the licensing of Oralissa and the acquisitions of Immuven and Solvay. Early in her career, Margarita worked as a corporate and securities attorney, advising clients on mergers, acquisitions, public and private financings at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP in Silicon Valley. In addition to her work in venture capital, Margarita serves on the Board of Regents at Santa Clara University and the Board of P33 Chicago.

“I look forward to working with the Board to lead the Aligos team as we continue to serve our shareholders and patients in need,” said Margarita Chavez, JD. “Aligos’ dedication to science to deliver the best drug candidates is a mission I look forward to supporting.”

About Aligos

Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2018 with a mission to become a global leader in the treatment of liver and viral diseases. Aligos’ strategy is to leverage its team’s deep expertise and decades of drug development experience in liver and viral diseases to discover and develop potentially best-in-class therapeutics for metabolically dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and viruses with high unmet medical need, such as hepatitis B and coronaviruses.

For more information, visit www.aligos.com or follow us on LinkedIn or X.

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be “forward-looking statements,” including, without limitation, statements regarding Aligos’ financial results and performance, and research and development activities, including the regulatory status and timing of announcements and updates regarding our regulatory filings and clinical trials. Such forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that could cause our development programs, future results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, including the clinical stage of Aligos’ development, the process of designing and conducting clinical trials, regulatory approval processes and other matters that could impact Aligos’ adequacy of capital resources to fund its operations. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks related to Aligos’ business generally, see Aligos’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 6, 2024 and future periodic reports due to be filed or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Aligos undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Aligos Therapeutics

contact
Jordyn Tarazi
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
+1 (650) 910-0427
[email protected]