Telephus Biosciences Appoints Patrick Vink, M.D., MBA, William Boyle, Ph.D., and Richard Proctor, M.D., as Company Advisors

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Telephus Biosciences ("Telephus"), a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapy products to treat life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infections, announced today the appointment of three key opinion leaders to its advisory board as the company prepares for clinical development of its lead program, TPH 101. TPH 101 is in development as an adjuvant immunotherapy for MRSA osteomyelitis, which occurs as a complication of orthopedic surgery, open fractures, diabetic foot ulcers, and bacteremia.

"For our advisory board, we have brought together the leading scientists, physicians, and business executives with deep expertise in developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial infections and osteodegenerative disease," said Mark Benedyk, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Telephus. "We are thrilled to welcome Patrick, Bill and Richard to Telephus. Their collective strategic, scientific, and clinical experience, together with that of our existing advisors, will help transform Telephus into a high-growth clinical-stage therapeutics company."

Patrick Vink, M.D., MBA
Currently, Dr. Vink is an advisor to the pharmaceutical industry and non-executive board member of several public and private companies with an extensive operating tenure in several multinational biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Previously, Dr. Vink was employed at Cubist Pharmaceuticals where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all worldwide commercial and technical operations as well as global alliance management and P&L responsibility for the company. He originally joined Cubist in 2012 as Senior Vice President and Head, International Business Operations. Prior to joining Cubist, Dr. Vink served as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Hospital Business, and Global Head of Biologics for Mylan Inc. Before joining Mylan, Dr. Vink held several leadership positions across the industry, including Head of Global Business Franchise Biopharmaceuticals for Novartis Sandoz; Vice President International Business for Biogen; and Head of Worldwide Marketing, Cardiovascular and Thrombosis for Sanofi-Synthelabo. Dr. Vink earned his M.D. at the University of Leiden, Netherlands and earned his MBA at the University of Rochester.

"Telephus has taken an innovative treatment approach to addressing severe orthopedic infections," said Dr. Vink. "Patients who suffer from MRSA osteomyelitis, a severe, crippling bone infection that can occur after joint replacement or open fracture, with accompanying significant mortality and morbidity. TPH 101 adjunctive immunotherapy is poised to significantly improve patient outcomes by enhancing antibiotic activity, clearing infection, and reducing the often irreversible joint damage that results from these infections. I am thrilled to advise Telephus as it seeks to become a leading clinical-stage therapeutics company."

William Boyle, Ph.D.
Currently, Dr. Boyle is Vice President of Translational Medicine of BioAtla, LLC, and is an Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Boyle founded AnaptysBio, Inc, in 2005 as an antibody therapeutics company based on harnessing the use of somatic hypermutation for antibody discovery and optimization and served as its Chief Scientific Officer and President. Prior to AnaptysBio, Dr. Boyle was at Amgen for over eleven years, where as Director of Discovery Research, he led the preclinical and clinical development of osteoprotegerin, a natural endogenous factor protecting bone from resorption. His research in this area helped to define the RANK-RANKL signaling pathway and led to the isolation and characterization of Prolia^® and Exgeva^® (denosumab), the first antibody treatment for osteoporosis and the treatment of skeletal related events in cancer, for which Dr. Boyle is an inventor. Dr. Boyle earned his B.S. and M.S. in biology, as well as his Ph.D. in experimental pathology at UCLA. Dr. Boyle was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation at the Salk Institute of Biological studies.

"Telephus is poised to help catalyze the increasing application of immunotherapy to treating patients with infectious disease," said Dr. Boyle. "I look forward to helping the team advance TPH 101 and its therapeutic pipeline into the clinic."

Richard Proctor, M.D.
Currently, Dr. Proctor is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Medicine and Microbiology at UW-Madison. Previously, he was the Global Director for Infectious Diseases for Antibiotics and Antifungals at Merck. Dr. Proctor is a leading expert on mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis in infectious disease. He serves as a member of the scientific advisory board at AmebaGon, Inc. He serves on a number of panels addressing emerging antibiotic resistance and served as President of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He was a founding member of the International Endotoxin Society and the cofounder of the Staphylococcal Diseases Gordon Conference.  Prior to his appointment at the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Proctor earned his B.S. and M.D. at the University of Michigan.

"Telephus' proprietary targeted immunotherapy platform attacks bacterial virulence via inactivation of autolysin A without damaging patients' microbiomes or contributing to antibiotic resistance, thus avoiding potential use restrictions often seen with newly approved antibiotics," said Dr. Proctor. "I am excited to be a part of this opportunity to have a significant impact on the lives of patients suffering from MRSA osteomyelitis and other life-threatening MRSA infections, which continue to be serious complications of surgical procedures worldwide.

About Telephus Biosciences

Telephus is dedicated to improving patients' lives by developing next-generation products that harness the power of the immune system to fight infection. Telephus is focused on the discovery and development of innovative immunotherapy products to fight methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections. The Company's lead program, TPH 101, is a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of MRSA osteomyelitis, a life-threatening bone infection that can occur as a complication of joint replacement surgery or orthopedic trauma. Seven million people in the United States are living with hip or knee replacements performed at the rate of one million procedures a year, and infection is a leading cause of implant failure. Telephus is located in San Diego. For more information, please visit www.telephusbio.com.

SOURCE Telephus Medical