HOOKIPA Announces Promotion of Klaus Orlinger, Ph.D. to Chief Scientific Officer

NEW YORK and VIENNA, Austria, March 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOK, ‘HOOKIPA’), a company developing a new class of immunotherapeutics based on its proprietary arenavirus platform, today announced that Klaus Orlinger, Ph.D. has been promoted to Chief Scientific Officer. Since joining HOOKIPA in February 2012, Klaus has played a leading role in driving HOOKIPA’s arenaviral platform to the clinic and demonstrating the potent antigen-specific T cell response these novel immunotherapies induce.

“Klaus has been instrumental in advancing our novel arenaviral science into the differentiated, versatile platform technology it is today. He has played a key role in translating scientific theory into candidate immunotherapies in clinical development for infectious disease and cancers, as we have grown as an organization,” said Joern Aldag, Chief Executive Officer. “Klaus’ deep knowledge of viral technologies paired with his innate curiosity have helped us continually optimize the potential of our arenaviral platform. It’s a pleasure to promote him from within our dedicated and creative team, and I know Klaus will continue to help HOOKIPA demonstrate our leadership in arenaviral immunotherapies and their potential in helping to address unmet needs in cancer.”

Klaus Orlinger, Ph.D. joined HOOKIPA in 2012 as the Head of Virology and was responsible for the generation and characterization of prophylactic and therapeutic immunotherapy candidates, as well as coordination with international research collaboration partners. He has held roles of increasing responsibility since that time, most recently serving as Executive Vice President, Research. Klaus began his career as a scientist in the molecular vaccines department at Baxter AG. He is a published author and holds several patents for arenaviral vectors and candidate immunotherapies. Klaus earned his undergraduate degree, Masters’ degree and Ph.D. in microbiology and genetics from the University Vienna.

About HOOKIPA
HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOK) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunotherapies, based on its proprietary arenavirus platform, that are designed to mobilize and amplify targeted T cells and thereby fight or prevent serious disease. HOOKIPA’s replicating and non-replicating technologies are engineered to induce robust and durable antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses and pathogen-neutralizing antibodies. HOOKIPA’s pipeline includes wholly-owned investigational arenaviral immunotherapeutics targeting HPV16+ cancers, prostate cancer, KRAS-mutated cancers (including colorectal, pancreatic and lung), and other undisclosed programs. In addition, HOOKIPA aims to develop functional cures of HBV and HIV in collaboration with Gilead.

Find out more about HOOKIPA online at www.hookipapharma.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the completion of the proposed offering and the use of proceeds from the proposed offering. The use of words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “future,” “potential,” or “continue,” and other similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the Offering on favorable terms or at all and those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in HOOKIPA’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in HOOKIPA’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in connection with the Offering. Any forward-looking statements represent HOOKIPA’s views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and HOOKIPA undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

For further information, please contact: