SOLANA BEACH, Calif. and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: EFTR), a leader in the development of selective translation regulator inhibitors (“STRIs”) for the treatment of cancer, today announced the addition of Caroline Loewy to its Board of Directors and her election as Chair of the Board’s Audit Committee. Concurrent with Ms. Loewy’s appointment, current Board member John Smither has resigned from the Board.

“We are tremendously fortunate to welcome Caroline given her extensive experience as an executive and board member at multiple biopharmaceutical companies,” remarked Steve Worland, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of eFFECTOR. “Beyond her previous C-suite roles in operations and finance, Caroline also brings to eFFECTOR a wealth of senior analytical and governance experience, having served as an equity research analyst and chair of the Audit Committee at several companies. Her breadth of expertise will provide invaluable insight as we push towards prospective registrational trials and commercialization of our pipeline of selective translation regulator inhibitors. At the same time, on behalf of the entire eFFECTOR team and the Board, I would like to express our utmost gratitude to John for his invaluable contributions to eFFECTOR.”

“I look forward to working with the management team and other Board members at eFFECTOR,” said Ms. Loewy. “With two assets in Phase 2 clinical trials with upcoming data readouts, this is an auspicious time for the company, with the potential for significant value creation and pipeline advancement.”

“I would like to thank Steve and the rest of the board for the opportunity to serve eFFECTOR,” added Mr. Smither. “I have appreciated the innovation and dedication of eFFECTOR team members that has brought the company to its current position and am confident in their continued execution going forward.”

With over 25 years of biopharmaceutical and financial executive experience, Ms. Loewy presently acts independently in providing strategic advisory services to biopharmaceutical companies. Ms. Loewy was a cofounder and the Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Achieve Life Sciences, prior to its acquisition by OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 2017. Prior to Achieve, Ms. Loewy previously served as Chief Financial Officer of both public and private biopharmaceutical companies including Tobira Therapeutics, acquired by Allergan Inc. in 2016, Corcept Therapeutics and Poniard Pharmaceuticals. In addition to her biopharmaceutical executive roles, Ms. Loewy also served 11 years as a senior biotechnology equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley and Prudential Securities. Ms. Loewy has also leveraged her medical and financial expertise as a founding board member of the Global Genes Project and of the KCNQ2 Cure Alliance, both non-profit patient and advocacy organizations promoting education and research into rare disease. Ms. Loewy also currently sits on the board of CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc., PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp. Ms. Loewy holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A./M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University.

About eFFECTOR Therapeutics

eFFECTOR is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of a new class of oncology drugs referred to as STRIs. eFFECTOR’s STRI product candidates target the eIF4F complex and its activating kinase, mitogen-activated protein kinase interacting kinase (MNK). The eIF4F complex is a central node where two of the most frequently mutated signaling pathways in cancer, the PI3K-AKT and RAS-MEK pathways, converge to activate the translation of select mRNA into proteins that are frequent culprits in key disease-driving processes. Each of eFFECTOR’s product candidates is designed to act on a single protein that drives the expression of a network of functionally related proteins, including oncoproteins and immunosuppressive proteins in T cells, that together control tumor growth, survival and immune evasion. eFFECTOR’s lead product candidate, tomivosertib, is a MNK inhibitor currently being evaluated in KICKSTART, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b trial of tomivosertib in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Zotatifin, eFFECTOR’s inhibitor of eIF4A, is currently being evaluated in Phase 2a expansion cohorts in certain biomarker-positive solid tumors, including ER+ breast cancer and KRAS-mutant NSCLC. eFFECTOR has a global collaboration with Pfizer to develop inhibitors of a third target, eIF4E.

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