NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arvinas, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARVN), a clinical-stage biotechnology company creating a new class of drugs based on targeted protein degradation, announced Ian Taylor, Ph.D. has been promoted to President of Research and Development and Angela Cacace, Ph.D. has also been promoted and will succeed Dr. Taylor as Chief Scientific Officer of the company. Dr. Taylor and Dr. Cacace will assume these new roles effective immediately and report to John Houston, Ph.D., Chairperson, President and Chief Executive Officer.

"These promotions reflect the contributions of both Ian and Angela to our success at Arvinas, as well as their crucial roles in leading Arvinas through a new chapter in its evolution,” said John Houston, Ph.D., Chairperson, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Ian has been a driving force at Arvinas for the past eight years, with his wealth of knowledge and passion for innovation, and we are thrilled to announce his promotion to President of R&D. In his new role, Ian will ensure our innovation efforts continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, keeping Arvinas at the forefront of our industry.”

Dr. Taylor joined Arvinas in 2016 as Vice President of Pharmacology and Translational Medicine and has held positions of increasing responsibility, including serving as Chief Scientific Officer of the company since early 2019. Prior to Arvinas, Dr. Taylor had long tenures at Bayer and Pfizer, where he held leadership roles in Oncology Research and Development, respectively. As President of R&D, Dr. Taylor will provide strategic input across the company’s broad pipeline, from early research efforts to multiple development programs in oncology and neuroscience. Dr. Taylor will continue to be an important connection to outside stakeholders, including thought leaders, strategic partners, and investors, and will also chair the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board, with whom he’s worked since joining Arvinas.

“I am honored to take on this new role at Arvinas,” said Dr. Taylor. “I am very proud of what we have already accomplished as a company and have an unwavering conviction that the future of Arvinas is even brighter, given the incredible strength of our clinical portfolio and the research pipeline that we’ve built. I look forward to continuing to play a strategic role, along with John and the leadership team, to bring our PROTAC^® protein degraders to patients. Angela is ideally suited to be our next Chief Scientific Officer and she will step in to that position seamlessly.”

“Angela has been instrumental in our success and I am excited we are promoting her to Chief Scientific Officer,” continued Dr. Houston. “Her visionary approach over the past six years at Arvinas helped to build our neuroscience and platform capabilities and she was a driving force in our nomination of ARV-102, Arvinas’ first investigational PROTAC degrader for neurodegeneration, into clinical development. With her deep scientific and technical expertise in cancer biology and cancer drug discovery, I am confident that as CSO, Angela will continue to drive our research pipeline forward.”

Dr. Cacace joined Arvinas in 2018 as Vice President of Neuroscience and Platform Biology, bringing over two decades of drug discovery experience in neuroscience and oncology research across modalities. She most recently served as Senior Vice President, Neuroscience and Platform Biology. Her prior experience at Pfizer focused on oncology antibody drug discovery efforts to deliver an anti-angiogenic clinical candidate. While at Bristol-Myers Squibb, in positions of increasing responsibility in research, and as head of biology at Fulcrum Therapeutics, she built innovative pipelines, grew talented scientific teams, delivered multiple clinical candidates, and guided the development of translational biomarkers to enable clinical development programs. Over the past six years, together with the Arvinas team, Dr. Cacace has led the continuous evolution of Arvinas’ powerful PROTAC^® Discovery Engine to employ new E3 ligases and cross the blood-brain barrier for multiple neurologic disease targets, including the delivery of PROTAC^® LRRK2 degrader ARV-102 into ongoing clinical trials.

“I am thrilled to take on this role at Arvinas during this crucial stage in our company's journey,” said Dr. Cacace. “I have long been committed to fostering a collaborative and innovative environment that advances our pipeline from early discovery through clinical development. By integrating our scientific efforts with our overall business strategy, we aim to accelerate the translation of our targeted protein degradation research into meaningful clinical trials and potentially impactful treatments. Patients are at the heart of everything we do, and we will continue to push the boundaries of science with urgency and purpose.”

About Arvinas

Arvinas (Nasdaq: ARVN) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases. Through its PROTAC^® (PROteolysis Targeting Chimera) protein degrader platform, the Company is pioneering the development of protein degradation therapies designed to harness the body’s natural protein disposal system to selectively and efficiently degrade and remove disease-causing proteins. Arvinas is currently progressing multiple investigational drugs through clinical development programs, including vepdegestrant, targeting estrogen receptor for patients with locally advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer; ARV-102, targeting LRRK2 for neurodegenerative disorders; and ARV-393, targeting BCL6 for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Arvinas is headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut. For more information about Arvinas, visit us on www.arvinas.com, which does not form part of this release, and connect with us on LinkedIn and X.

Arvinas Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding Arvinas’ ability to bring its technology to patients, including its ability to accelerate the translation of its targeted protein degradation research into meaningful clinical trials and impactful treatment; the potential therapeutic benefits of the product candidates in Arvinas’ PROTAC® protein degrader pipeline; the future of Arvinas based on strength of its clinical portfolio and research pipeline; and the impact the enumerated promotions may have on the company. The words “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “will,” “continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Arvinas may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements made as a result of various risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: Arvinas’ approach to the discovery and development of product candidates based on its PROTAC technology platform is unproven, which makes it difficult to predict the time, cost of development and likelihood of successfully developing any products; Arvinas’ ability to protect its intellectual property position; whether cash and cash equivalent resources will be sufficient to fund Arvinas’ foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements; and other important factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and subsequent other reports on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect current views with respect to future events, and Arvinas assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Arvinas’ views as of any date after the date of this release.

Contacts

Investor Contact:
Jeff Boyle, Arvinas Investor Relations
+1 (347) 247-5089
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Media Contact:
Kathleen Murphy, Arvinas Communications
+1 (760) 622-3771
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