CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BIND Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIND), a clinical-stage nanomedicine company developing targeted and programmable therapeutics called ACCURINS®, today announced the appointment of Jonathan Yingling, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. In this position, Dr. Yingling will be responsible for leading BIND’s research and development efforts to identify and pursue new product opportunities where the unique attributes of ACCURINs can be leveraged to provide meaningful improvements in patient care.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jonathan to our leadership team, where he will significantly enhance our ability to discover and develop novel ACCURIN therapeutics,” said Andrew Hirsch, president and chief executive officer, BIND Therapeutics. “As we continue expanding the application of our ACCURIN platform to develop potential breakthrough therapies, his scientific expertise in oncology, proven ability to build high quality research groups, and experience advancing promising science from the lab to the clinic make him ideally suited to successfully execute on our long-range strategic vision.”
Dr. Yingling joins BIND from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), where he was vice president, Oncology Discovery and Translational Research. During his tenure at BMS, he was responsible for the oncology research portfolio as well as translational capabilities in oncology and immunoscience, contributing to the discovery and development of potentially transformative medicines in immuno-oncology. He championed several small molecule drug discovery programs including IDO (indoleamine-2,3 dioxygenase), TGF-β and other important intracellular tumor cell targets. He also expanded the biologics portfolio with the addition of FS102, a novel anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, and several proprietary antibody drug conjugate assets.
“I’m excited to join Andrew and the talented team at BIND to utilize my drug discovery and translational science expertise to develop innovative medicines leveraging the ACCURIN platform,” said Jonathan Yingling, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at BIND. “I am impressed with the leadership team, the capabilities of the organization and the flexibility of the world-class nanomedicine platform to address significant challenges in developing best-in-class medicines. With the strong foundation and scientists at BIND, I look forward to joining the team at this critical juncture as we accelerate our transition into an integrated drug discovery and pre-clinical development organization. I’m committed to focusing our discovery and research capabilities on developing innovative therapeutics addressing significant unmet medical need with meaningful impact on patients’ lives.”
Dr. Yingling began his pharmaceutical career as a senior biologist in oncology at Eli Lilly & Company in 2000. During his 13-year tenure, he served in various positions of increasing responsibility including CSO of Angiogenesis & Tumor Microenvironment Biology, Vice President of Oncology Research and Vice President of Translational Science and Technology. In those roles, he led innovative drug discovery programs focused on the tumor microenvironment, contributed to the expansion of Lilly’s oncology portfolio into targeted therapy and biologics culminating in the acquisition of ImClone in 2008 and integrated tailored therapeutic capabilities across Lilly Research Laboratories. As vice president of Translational Science and Technology, he led target enablement and screening, structural biology, fragment-based drug design and lead optimization biology capabilities across multiple therapeutic areas. Dr. Yingling earned his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Duke University and was a Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University.
About BIND Therapeutics
BIND Therapeutics is a clinical-stage nanomedicine company developing a pipeline of ACCURINS®, its novel targeted therapeutics designed to increase the concentration and duration of therapeutic payloads at disease sites while reducing exposure to healthy tissue. BIND is leveraging its Medicinal Nanoengineering® platform to develop a pipeline of ACCURINS targeting hematological and solid tumors and has a number of strategic collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies to develop ACCURINS in areas of high unmet need. BIND's lead drug candidate, BIND-014, is a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) -targeted ACCURIN that contains docetaxel, a clinically-validated and widely-used cancer chemotherapy drug. BIND is currently enrolling patients in a trial with BIND-014 for non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, with squamous histology. In addition, BIND is enrolling patients in a clinical trial with BIND-014 for advanced cervical, bladder, head and neck and cholangio cancers. BIND is advancing BIND-510, its second PSMA-targeted ACCURIN drug candidate containing vincristine, a potent microtubule inhibitor with dose limiting peripheral neuropathy in its conventional form, through important preclinical studies to position it for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. BIND is also developing ACCURINS designed to inhibit PLK1 and KSP, both of which BIND believes are promising anti-mitotic targets that have been limited in the clinic due to systemic toxicity at or below therapeutic doses.
BIND has announced ongoing collaborations with Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca AB, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Merck & Co., or Merck (known as Merck Sharp & Dohme outside the United States and Canada) and Macrophage Therapeutics (a subsidiary of Navidea Biopharmaceuticals) to develop ACCURINS based on their proprietary therapeutic payloads and/or targeting ligands. BIND's collaboration with AstraZeneca has resulted in the Aurora B Kinase inhibitor ACCURIN AZD2811, which became the second ACCURIN candidate to enter clinical development. BIND’s collaboration with Pfizer has resulted in the selection of an ACCURIN candidate that is entering IND-enabling studies.
For more information, please visit the Company's web site at www.bindtherapeutics.com.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines; our expectation that ACCURINs may lead to meaningful improvements in patient care, our ability to expand and develop novel applications for the ACCURIN platform; the ability of Dr. Yingling to successfully execute our strategic vision; our transition into a drug discovery and preclinical development organization; BIND-510, including without limitation the filing of an IND applicable with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; our collaborations with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Merck and Macrophage; and upcoming events and presentations.
These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the fact that the Company has incurred significant losses since its inception and expects to incur losses for the foreseeable future; the Company's need for additional funding, which may not be available; raising additional capital may cause dilution to its stockholders, restrict its operations or require it to relinquish rights to its technologies or drug candidates; the Company's limited operating history; the terms of the Company's credit facility place restrictions on its operating and financial flexibility; failure to use and expand its medicinal nanoengineering platform to build a pipeline of drug candidates and develop marketable drugs; the early stage of the Company's development efforts with only BIND-014 in clinical development; failure of the Company or its collaborators to successfully develop and commercialize drug candidates; clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome; delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials; serious adverse or unacceptable side effects or limited efficacy observed during the development of the Company's drug candidates; inability to maintain any of the Company's collaborations, or the failure of these collaborations; the Company's reliance on third parties to conduct its clinical trials and manufacture its drug candidates; the Company's inability to obtain required regulatory approvals; any conclusion by the FDA that BIND-014 does not satisfy the requirements for approval under the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory approval pathway; the fact that a fast track or breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for the Company's drug candidates may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process; the inability to obtain orphan drug exclusivity for drug candidates; failure to obtain marketing approval in international jurisdictions; any post-marketing restrictions or withdrawals from the market; effects of recently enacted and future legislation; failure to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations; failure to achieve market acceptance by physicians, patients, or third-party payors; failure to establish effective sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties with such capabilities; effects of substantial competition; unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives; product liability lawsuits; failure to retain key executives and attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; difficulties in managing the Company's growth; risks associated with operating internationally, including the possibility of sanctions with respect to our operations in Russia; the possibility of system failures or security breaches; failure to obtain and maintain patent protection for or otherwise protect our technology and products; effects of patent or other intellectual property lawsuits; the price of our common stock may be volatile and fluctuate substantially; significant costs and required management time as a result of operating as a public company; and any securities class action litigation. These and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on November 2, 2015, and our other reports filed with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
