Celyad Oncology Appoints Marina Udier, Ph.D., to Board of Directors


MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium, Jan. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Celyad Oncology SA (Euronext & Nasdaq: CYAD), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapies for cancer, today announced that Marina Udier, Ph.D., has been appointed to its Board of Directors.

“I am very pleased to welcome Marina to our Board of Directors,” stated Filippo Petti, CEO of Celyad Oncology. “As a highly regarded leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, we look forward to benefiting from Marina’s wealth of experience as we continue to advance key elements of our pipeline with the goal of developing innovative cell therapies against cancer.”

Dr. Marina Udier said, “Celyad Oncology is at a pivotal moment in its company history with multiple candidates in the clinic and a promising array of significant milestones expected in 2021. I am honored to be part of the Celyad Oncology Board and look forward to working with the talented team to execute on the company’s strategic vision of establishing itself as an industry leader in the CAR T space.”

Dr. Udier currently serves as CEO of Nouscom, a private oncology company developing next-generation immunotherapies, after joining as Chief Operating Officer in 2016 from Versant Ventures, where she was Operating Principal. Prior to Versant, she held various senior development and commercial roles at Novartis Pharma in Basel. As the Global Commercial Head, she developed the global strategy for a point of care diagnostics platform. Her experience in molecular diagnostics includes In Vitro Diagnostics development; she led development of a Companion Diagnostics for RYDAPTTM, the first approved AML drug in over three decades. Marina managed the Global Neurodegeneration portfolio for Novartis driving her brands to a blockbuster status. She spent five years with McKinsey & Company in Chicago, working with Healthcare Fortune 500 companies in areas of marketing, strategy and pricing. Dr. Udier received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Yale University. She authored peer-reviewed publications covering HIV/AIDS research.

About Celyad Oncology

Celyad Oncology is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapies for cancer. The Company is developing a pipeline of allogeneic (off-the-shelf) and autologous (personalized) CAR T cell therapy candidates for the treatment of both hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Celyad Oncology was founded in 2007 and is based in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium and New York, NY. The Company has received funding from the Walloon Region (Belgium) to support the advancement of its CAR T cell therapy programs. For more information, please visit www.celyad.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

This release may contain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may include statements regarding: the safety and clinical activity of Celyad Oncology’s pipelines and financial condition, results of operation and business outlook. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which might cause actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Celyad Oncology to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risk and uncertainty includes our development of additional shRNA-based allogenic candidates from our CYAD-200 series towards clinical trial and the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and government measures implemented in response thereto. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other risks can be found in Celyad Oncology’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and reports, including in its Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 25, 2020 and subsequent filings and reports by Celyad Oncology. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of publication of this document and Celyad Oncology’s actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Celyad Oncology expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this document to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, unless required by law or regulation.

Investor and Media Contacts:

Sara Zelkovic
Communications & Investor Relations Director
Celyad Oncology
investors@celyad.com

Daniel Ferry
Managing Director
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
daniel@lifesciadvisors.com

Source: Celyad Oncology SA