Idera Pharmaceuticals Announces Several Key Leadership Additions

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and EXTON, Pa., Nov. 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. IDRA, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing toll-like receptor and RNA therapeutics for patients with cancer and rare diseases, today announced several key leadership additions as the company continues to build the organization to support its clinical development initiatives and organizational growth.  Idera has appointed Mark J. Cornfeld, M.D., M.P.H., as Vice President and Medical Lead, Oncology; Kirsten L. Gruis, M.D., M.S., as Senior Medical Director, Rare Diseases; Tanya N. Lewis, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance and John J. Kirby, Vice President, Corporate Accounting.

"As we pursue our purpose of helping patients suffering from cancer or rare diseases, it is imperative that we continue to recruit outstanding talent," stated Vincent Milano, Idera Pharmaceuticals Chief Executive Officer.  "Mark, Kirsten, Tanya and John are all highly qualified in their respective areas of expertise and of equal importance are perfect fits for the culture that we are building at Idera."

Dr. Cornfeld most recently served in various oncology leadership roles at GSK including lead physician for afuresertib and clinical development lead as well as Director of Global Oncology Research and Development.  Prior to joining GSK, Dr. Cornfeld also held roles of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson and Hoffman-LA Roche.  Prior to joining industry, Dr. Cornfeld held oncology leadership roles at several medical centers including the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA.  Dr. Cornfeld received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, M.P.H. from Rutgers University and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Gruis most recently served as Director, Clinical Development at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals where she served as clinical lead for the Phase 3 program of Patisiran for familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP).  Prior to joining Alnylam, Dr. Gruis served as a Neuromuscular Clinical Lead at Pfizer.  Dr. Gruis received her M.D. from the University of Iowa, M.S. from the University of Michigan and her Bachelor of Science from Iowa State University.

Ms. Lewis most recently served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Medical Writing at Tesaro, Inc.  Prior to joining Tesaro, Ms. Lewis held regulatory roles of increasing responsibility at Seaside Therapeutics, Vion Pharmaceuticals, Millenium Pharmaceuticals and Genzyme Corporation.  Ms. Lewis received her M.S. from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences and her Bachelor of Science from Northeastern University.

Mr. Kirby most recently served as Assistant Controller at Endo Pharmaceuticals.  Prior to joining Endo, Mr. Kirby served as Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller at ViroPharma Incorporated.  Mr. Kirby began his career at KPMG, LLP and served as a Regional Audit Director at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals prior to joining ViroPharma.  Mr. Kirby received his Bachelor of Science from Villanova University and is a licensed certified public accountant.

About Idera Pharmaceuticals

Idera Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage patient focused biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases. Idera's proprietary technology involves creating novel nucleic acid therapeutics. Idera's immunotherapy approach is based on the modulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs).  In addition to its TLR modulation programs, Idera is developing gene silencing oligonucleotides (GSO) technology that it has created to inhibit the production of disease-associated proteins by targeting RNA. To learn more about Idera, visit www.iderapharma.com.