WATERTOWN, Mass., Sept. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kymera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KYMR), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel small molecule therapeutics that selectively degrade disease-causing proteins by harnessing the body’s own natural protein degradation system, today announced the appointments of Pamela Esposito, PhD, and Jeff Albers, JD, to its Board of Directors. Dr. Esposito is Chief Business Officer of Replimune, and Mr. Albers is President and Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines. Both join the Kymera Board with nearly two decades of biopharmaceutical leadership experience.

“I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Pamela and Jeff to Kymera’s Board of Directors,” said Nello Mainolfi, PhD, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kymera Therapeutics. “Their exceptional leadership and experience will no doubt prove invaluable as we continue to grow key areas of the company to become a fully integrated biotech.”

“Pamela and Jeff are tremendous additions to the Kymera Board,” said Bruce Booth, DPhil, Co-Founder and Board Chair of Kymera Therapeutics. “They each bring incredible perspective and insights, and share in our passion and commitment to delivering meaningful new therapies to patients.”

Dr. Esposito has led Replimune’s corporate and business development efforts since the company’s inception, raising more than $400M to advance next generation oncolytic immunotherapies. Previously, she was Chief Business Officer at Ra Pharmaceuticals, supporting the company’s advancement to the clinic and has had other business roles in large and small biotech companies. Currently, she also sits on the board of directors of Accent Therapeutics. She earned a PhD in pharmacology from Tufts University School of Medicine and a BA from Dartmouth College.

“Improving the lives of cancer patients has been my lifelong commitment,” said Dr. Esposito. “Kymera is a pioneer in a modality with tremendous therapeutic potential. I look forward to partnering with the leadership team to guide the company’s strategic direction and to realize the promise of protein degrader therapies for patients.”

Mr. Albers is Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors at Blueprint Medicines, where he transitioned the previously research-stage company through an initial public offering and into a leading precision medicine company with a global, fully integrated business, including one FDA-approved therapy and a rapidly advancing pipeline. Prior to joining Blueprint Medicines, Mr. Albers served as President of Algeta overseeing the successful commercial launch of a targeted cancer therapy before the company was acquired by Bayer. He has also held senior commercial and corporate development positions at Genzyme (now a division of Sanofi). He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Magenta Therapeutics and the Eastern New England Chapter of the American Cancer Society and is on the Board of Advisors for Life Sciences Cares. Mr. Albers holds a BS from Indiana University and an MBA and JD from Georgetown University.

“Now is an exciting time for the field of targeted protein degradation. Kymera stands out as a leader in this rapidly-evolving landscape, with a unique approach to addressing notoriously difficult to treat cancers as well as autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. I look forward to working with the Board of Directors and the Kymera team to advance innovative treatments for illnesses where few therapeutic options currently exist,” said Mr. Albers.

About Kymera Therapeutics

Kymera Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on a transformative new approach to address previously intractable disease targets. Kymera is advancing the field of targeted protein degradation, accessing the body’s innate protein recycling machinery to degrade dysregulated, disease-causing proteins. Kymera’s Pegasus targeted protein degradation platform harnesses the body’s natural protein recycling machinery to degrade disease-causing proteins, with a focus on un-drugged nodes in validated pathways currently inaccessible with conventional therapeutics. Kymera is accelerating drug discovery with an unmatched ability to target and degrade the most intractable of proteins, and advance new treatment options for patients. Kymera’s initial programs target IRAK4, IRAKIMiD and STAT3 within the IL-1R/TLR or JAK/STAT pathways, providing the opportunity to treat a broad range of immune-inflammatory diseases, hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. For more information, visit www.kymeratx.com.

About Pegasus™
Pegasus™ is Kymera Therapeutics’ proprietary protein degradation platform, created by its team of experienced drug hunters to improve the effectiveness of targeted protein degradation and generate a pipeline of novel therapeutics for previously undruggable diseases. The platform consists of informatics driven target identification, novel E3 ligases, proprietary ternary complex predictive modeling capabilities, and degradation tools.