Agios Appoints Bruce Car, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO), a leader in the field of cellular metabolism to treat cancer and rare genetic diseases, today announced the appointment of Bruce Car, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer effective January 6, 2020. Dr. Car will replace Scott Biller, Ph.D., who will retire at the end of 2019 and remain a strategic advisor to Agios through 2020 as previously announced. Dr. Car spent 25 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and its legacy companies, working across all therapeutic areas and drug modalities, and serving most recently as the interim head, BMS drug discovery.

“Great science is the backbone of Agios and what allows us to make transformational medicines for patients. With Bruce on board, along with the support of our tremendous scientific leadership team, I’m certain that we will continue our legacy of uncovering biological breakthroughs and developing first-in-class therapies,” said Jackie Fouse, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Agios. “I want to thank Scott for contributions to our pipeline, people and culture over the last nine years. He has mentored, challenged and supported countless employees and led by example in his relentless focus on making a difference for patients.”

During his tenure at BMS and its legacy companies, Dr. Car helped bring more than 200 drug candidates to clinical trials and 13 marketed drugs, including ELIQUIS^®, OPDIVO^® and FARXIGA^®, to patients. For more than two decades, he held roles of increasing responsibility in drug discovery, covering all therapeutic areas, drug platforms and stages of discovery. Dr. Car also led the BMS R&D campus in Bangalore, India (BBRC) for six years across all aspects of discovery and later established a translational medicine function at that site. In early 2017, he became the first head of the BMS translational medicine group, where he successfully built a cohesive function of over 300 scientists and specialists covering biomarkers through pharmaco-diagnostics. Among his responsibilities in translational medicine, Dr. Car led the R&D computational biology and machine learning capabilities and pharmaco-diagnostic technology platforms. Dr. Car received veterinary medicine and Masters in pathology degrees from The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University, where he is currently an adjunct professor. Dr. Car undertook his postdoctoral studies in immunology and inflammation at the Theodor Kocher Institute, University of Berne and ETH/University of Zurich.

“I’ve long been impressed by the innovation and productivity of the research team at Agios. I’m excited to take on this unique opportunity at a company with expansive metabolism expertise and a robust preclinical pipeline across oncology and rare genetic diseases,” said Dr. Car. “I look forward to working with the research organization to advance the next wave of Agios medicines.”

“With more than two decades of broad drug discovery experience across BMS, Bruce is the ideal scientific leader to join Agios, and I have tremendous confidence in his ability to support and guide the research organization,” said Dr. Biller. “I want to thank my research colleagues for their hard work and tireless dedication to science in the service of patients. Our accomplishments as a team has been the pinnacle of my career.”

About Agios

Agios is focused on discovering and developing novel investigational medicines to treat cancer and rare genetic diseases through scientific leadership in the field of cellular metabolism and adjacent areas of biology. In addition to an active research and discovery pipeline across both therapeutic areas, Agios has two approved oncology precision medicines and multiple first-in-class investigational therapies in clinical and/or preclinical development. All Agios programs focus on genetically identified patient populations, leveraging our knowledge of metabolism, biology and genomics. For more information, please visit the company's website at .

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include those regarding the expected benefits of Dr. Car’s employment and Agios’ strategic plans and focus. The words "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plans," "will," "outlook" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from Agios' current expectations and beliefs. For example, there can be no guarantee that any product candidate Agios is developing will successfully commence or complete necessary preclinical and clinical development phases, that development of any of Agios' product candidates will successfully continue, or that any positive developments in Agios' business will result in stock price appreciation. Management's expectations and, therefore, any forward-looking statements in this press release could also be affected by risks and uncertainties relating to a number of other important factors, including: Agios' results of clinical trials and preclinical studies, including subsequent analysis of existing data and new data received from ongoing and future studies; the content and timing of decisions made by the U.S. FDA and other regulatory authorities, investigational review boards at clinical trial sites and publication review bodies; Agios' ability to obtain and maintain requisite regulatory approvals and to enroll patients in its planned clinical trials; unplanned cash requirements and expenditures; competitive factors; Agios' ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for any product candidates it is developing; Agios' ability to maintain key collaborations; and general economic and market conditions. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption "Risk Factors" included in Agios’ public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Agios expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Investor & Media Contact

Holly Manning, 617-844-6630

Associate Director, Investor Relations