Stealth BioTherapeutics Corp (Nasdaq: MITO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for diseases involving mitochondrial dysfunction, today announced the appointment of Eve E. Slater, M.D., F.A.C.C., to the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Slater is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology and brings considerable experience from the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Slater has served as Senior Vice President for Worldwide Policy, Pfizer, Inc., Assistant Secretary for Health in the US Department of Human Services, and Senior Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Development, and SVP of External Policy of Merck and Co.

"Eve has helped change the face of medicine and new drug development in our country, from the bedside, where she still dedicates time to regular patient care, to industry and national public health policy leadership," said Reenie McCarthy, CEO of Stealth. "We are thrilled to welcome Eve to our Board of Directors, where her passion for patients, scientific curiosity and regulatory acumen will help inform the development of elamipretide and our broader platform of mitochondrial targeted therapeutics."

"Eve is a highly accomplished cardiovascular medical expert and an experienced executive who successfully ushered a prodigious development pipeline through worldwide approvals," said Gerald Chan, Sc.D., Chairman of the Board of Stealth. "Her medical, clinical development, regulatory, and business experience augment the expertise of our Board. We are extremely fortunate to attract a professional of Eve's caliber to help guide the future growth of Stealth."

Dr. Slater was the Senior Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Development, and SVP of External Policy at Merck and Co., where she worked for over 19 years. Many of Merck's drugs, including statins, vaccines, and HIV/AIDS medicines received worldwide regulatory approval during her tenure. She was a member of the U.S. Keystone National Policy Dialogue on HIV, and the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council. As Assistant Secretary for Health, she was the first woman to hold this Senate-confirmed position, with special contributions in women's health, biosecurity, and electronic health record standards.

Dr. Slater is currently Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she has taught for over 35 years. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Vassar College and an Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed her residency and cardiology training at the Massachusetts General Hospital where she was the first woman Chief Resident in Medicine, and later led the Hypertension Unit, as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

"After collaborating with Stealth and its advisors on the company's rare cardiomyopathy development efforts over the past year, I am enthusiastic about the potential of mitochondrial targeted therapeutics to treat both rare metabolic cardiomyopathies and the broader range of debilitating diseases involving mitochondrial dysfunction," said Dr. Slater. "I am delighted to join the Board and look forward to working with Stealth's leadership team to deliver on the company's mission to improve the lives of patients living with serious diseases of mitochondrial dysfunction."

About Stealth

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for diseases involving mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria, found in nearly every cell in the body, are the body's main source of energy production and are critical for normal organ function. Dysfunctional mitochondria characterize a number of rare genetic diseases and are involved in many common age-related diseases, typically involving organ systems with high energy demands such as the heart, the eye, and the brain. We believe our lead product candidate, elamipretide, has the potential to treat both rare metabolic cardiomyopathies, such as Barth, Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies and Friedreich's ataxia, rare mitochondrial diseases entailing nuclear DNA mutations, such as POLG-related disorders, as well as ophthalmic diseases entailing mitochondrial dysfunction, such as dry age-related macular degeneration and Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. We are evaluating our second-generation clinical stage candidate, SBT-272, for rare neurodegenerative disease indications following promising preclinical data in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. We have optimized our discovery platform to identify novel mitochondria-targeted compounds, including SBT-259, the SBT-550 series of compounds, and other compounds which may be nominated as therapeutic product candidates or utilized as scaffolds to deliver other compounds to mitochondria.