HAYWARD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (NYSE:RCUS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating innovative cancer immunotherapies, today announced the appointment of Rekha Hemrajani as Chief Operating and Financial Officer. Ms. Hemrajani will be responsible for several key areas, including finance, investor relations, corporate communications, business and corporate development, strategic planning and human resources.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rekha as a key member of our senior leadership team, as we enter an exciting period in Arcus’s development with multiple Phase 1 readouts for AB928, our dual A2a/A2b receptor antagonist, AB154, our anti-TIGIT antibody, and AB680, our small-molecule CD73 inhibitor,” said Terry Rosen, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Arcus. “Rekha has an extraordinary track record in the life sciences and biotechnology industries, and her broad experience will be invaluable as we focus on advancing this slate of product candidates.”
“I am excited to join Arcus at this key point in its evolution, with four promising therapeutics in clinical development and a myriad of opportunities to translate the potential of the company’s pipeline into meaningful benefit for cancer patients,” commented Ms. Hemrajani. “I look forward to working with the Arcus team to make the best decisions based on the steady flow of data and results this year.”
With more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, Ms. Hemrajani brings extensive expertise in all aspects of corporate and business development, financing and strategic planning. Ms. Hemrajani joins Arcus from FLX Bio where she was Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for corporate strategy and development, investor and media relations, corporate communications, finance and strategic marketing. Prior to FLX Bio, Ms. Hemrajani was Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Business and Financial Operations at 3-V Biosciences. Previously, Ms. Hemrajani was Vice President, Head of Licensing and Mergers and Acquisitions at Onyx Pharmaceuticals and Vice President of Business Development at Exelixis, where she was involved in transactions that generated $800M in upfront and committed funding for the company. Ms. Hemrajani began her career in investment banking at firms such as Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers, where she focused on the biopharmaceutical and healthcare sector.
Ms. Hemrajani received her B.S. degree in Economics and Computer Science from the University of Michigan and her M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
About Arcus Biosciences
Arcus Biosciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating innovative cancer immunotherapies. Arcus has several programs targeting important immuno-oncology pathways, including a dual adenosine receptor antagonist, AB928, which is in a Phase 1/1b program to evaluate AB928 in combination with other agents in multiple tumor types, and an anti-PD-1 antibody, AB122, which is being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial and is being tested in combination with Arcus’s other product candidates. Arcus’s other programs include AB154, an anti-TIGIT antibody, which is being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial as monotherapy and in combination with AB122, and AB680, a small-molecule inhibitor of CD73, which is in a Phase 1 healthy volunteer study. Arcus has extensive in-house expertise in medicinal chemistry, immunology, biochemistry, pharmacology and structural biology. For more information about Arcus Biosciences, please visit www.arcusbio.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein, including, but not limited to, Arcus’s clinical development plans, pipeline and timelines are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause Arcus’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the inherent uncertainty associated with pharmaceutical product development and clinical trials, the emergence of adverse events or other undesirable side effects and delays in our clinical trials due to difficulties or delays in the regulatory process, enrolling subjects or manufacturing or supplying product for such clinical trials. Risks and uncertainties facing Arcus are described more fully in Arcus’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed on March 5, 2019 with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Arcus disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, supplement or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
