Onxeo Announces the Appointment of Dr. Shefali Agarwal as the Company’s Chairwoman of the Board

Danièle Guyot-Caparros, outgoing Chairwoman, remains an independent member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee

Paris (France), July 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Onxeo S.A. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALONX, Nasdaq First North: ONXEO), « Onxeo », a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of innovative drugs targeting tumor DNA Damage response (DDR) in oncology, today announced the appointment of Dr Shefali Agarwal as the Company’s Chairwoman of the Board of Directors. Danièle Guyot-Caparros, outgoing Chairwoman, remains an independent member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee.

Dr. Shefali Agarwal, physician by training, is the Chief Medical and Development Officer at Epizyme, Inc, which develops novel epigenetic therapies for cancer and other serious diseases, where she leads global clinical development and regulatory strategy. Prior to joining Epizyme in 2018, Dr. Agarwal held leadership positions including clinical development and operations, and medical and regulatory affairs. In particular, she led for Tesaro, the clinical development and registration of the PARP inhibitor ZEJULA^® (niraparib) in ovarian cancer.

In addition, Dr. Agarwal is a member of the Board of Directors of three U.S. biotechnology companies, ITB Med (private), Gritstone Bio and Fate Therapeutics. She was appointed as an independent director of Onxeo in June 2021.

Shefali Agarwal, incoming Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Onxeo, comments: "I am very honored to be appointed with this new role on the Board of Directors of Onxeo and would like to thank all its members for the trust they have placed in me. I have been impressed by the innovative science and unique platform of Onxeo as well as by the management team. I look forward to sharing my experience in global development to the benefit of the Company’s promising pipeline and bringing innovative and effective medicine to cancer patients in need”.

Danièle Guyot-Caparros, outgoing Chairwoman, added: "The Company is preparing to take a new strategic step, with the implementation of an ambitious clinical program and a reinforced presence in the United States. I am convinced that Dr. Agarwal's expertise and in-depth knowledge of the global biotech world will be a real asset for Onxeo and I look forward to continuing to support Onxeo in achieving its ambitious goals.”

Judith Greciet, Chief Executive Officer of Onxeo, concludes: "I would like to acknowledge Danièle Guyot-Caparros' remarkable contribution to Onxeo since 2013, the year she was first appointed as a Director. During her tenure, Danièle has supported the Company in the realization of several major structural operations and I am delighted to continue to benefit from her support on the Board of Directors. The appointment of Dr. Shefali Agarwal as Chair marks a new stage in the development of Onxeo, resolutely focused on creating value through the clinical demonstration of the interest of our approach to DDR."

About Onxeo

Onxeo (Euronext Paris, NASDAQ Copenhagen: ONXEO) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative oncology drugs targeting tumor DNA-binding functions through unique mechanisms of action in the sought-after field of DNA Damage Response (DDR). The Company is focused on bringing early-stage first-in-class or disruptive compounds from translational research to clinical proof-of-concept, a value-creating inflection point appealing to potential partners.

platON^™ is Onxeo’s chemistry platform of oligonucleotides acting as decoy agonists, which generates new innovative compounds and broaden the Company’s product pipeline.

AsiDNA^™, the first compound from platON™, is a first-in-class, highly differentiated clinical stage candidate in the field of DNA Damage Response (DDR). Its decoy and agonist mechanism acting upstream of multiple DDR pathways results in distinctive antitumoral properties, notably the ability to prevent or abrogate tumor resistance to targeted therapies such as PARP inhibitors and a strong synergy with tumor DNA-damaging agents such as radio/chemotherapy. AsiDNA™ is currently in combination clinical studies in hard-to-treat solid tumors.

OX401 is a new drug candidate from platON™, optimized to be a potent PARP agonist acting on both the DNA Damage Response and the activation of immune response, without inducing resistance. OX401 is undergoing preclinical proof-of-concept studies, alone and in combination with immunotherapies.

For more information, please visit www.onxeo.com.

Forward looking statements
This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Onxeo and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Onxeo to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Onxeo is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For a discussion of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Onxeo to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the risk factors described in the most recent Company’s registration document or in any other periodic financial report and in any other press release, which are available free of charge on the websites of the Company Group (www.onxeo.com) and/or the AMF (www.amf-france.org).

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