Dicerna™ Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRNA) (the "Company" or "Dicerna"), a leading developer of investigational ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Stephen Doberstein, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Fellow at Nektar Therapeutics, Inc. ("Nektar"), to Dicerna's board of directors (the "board") as an independent director, effective immediately.

"Steve is an accomplished chemical engineer, scientist and executive with nearly 25 years of research and development experience in the life sciences industry, during which time he has led pipeline strategy and execution for multiple candidates, from discovery-stage through regulatory approval," said Douglas M. Fambrough, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Dicerna. "During the past year, Dicerna has made substantial progress across our business and our development portfolio, entering 2020 with significant momentum and multiple important milestones on our horizon. I am very pleased to welcome Steve to our board of directors at this important time in our evolution and look forward to his contributions as we leverage the capabilities of our GalXC RNAi technology platform and advance our proprietary and collaborative programs."

"Dicerna is one of only a handful of companies that is successfully harnessing RNAi to create new medicines that have the potential to prevent or interrupt the course of genetically linked diseases," commented Dr. Doberstein. "The nonclinical and clinical success that Dicerna has achieved to date is very encouraging, and I believe the Company has only just begun to realize the potential of its GalXC RNAi technology platform. I am honored to join Dicerna's board at this pivotal time of growth and progress at the Company, as it advances its lead candidate through late-stage development and prepares to transition to a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company."

Dr. Doberstein was named Chief Scientific Fellow at Nektar in October 2019 after two years as Nektar's Senior Vice President of R&D and Chief Research and Development Officer. Prior to this, Dr. Doberstein served for nearly eight years as Nektar's Senior Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer. During his tenure with Nektar, Dr. Doberstein has been responsible for all R&D efforts, supervising more than 300 scientists, physicians and support personnel. Dr. Doberstein was instrumental in conceiving and leading Nektar's strategic expansion from a small-molecule discovery and development company focused in analgesics to a biopharmaceutical company engaged in cytokine engineering with an emphasis in immuno-oncology. Under his leadership, Nektar filed nine Investigational New Drug applications and advanced multiple candidates across all stages of development.

Dr. Doberstein received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware and his doctorate in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Doberstein was awarded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Doctoral Fellowship and the Muscular Dystrophy Association Postdoctoral and Senior Postdoctoral Fellowships, and he has co-authored 30 research publications and review articles.

Dicerna™ Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company using ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) to develop medicines that silence genes that cause disease. The Company's proprietary GalXC™ technology is being applied to develop potent, selective and safe RNAi therapies to treat diseases involving the liver, including rare diseases, chronic liver diseases, cardiovascular diseases and viral infectious diseases. Dicerna aims to treat disease by addressing the underlying causes of illness with capabilities that extend beyond the liver to address a broad range of diseases, focusing on target genes where connections between gene and disease are well understood and documented. Dicerna intends to discover, develop and commercialize novel therapeutics either on its own or in collaboration with pharmaceutical partners. Dicerna has strategic collaborations with Novo Nordisk A/S, Roche, Eli Lilly and Company, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH. For more information, please visit www.dicerna.com.

This press release includes forward-looking statements relating to the future growth of the Company. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Applicable risks and uncertainties include those relating to our preclinical research and clinical programs and other risks identified under the heading "Risk Factors" included in our most recent Form 10-Q filing and in other future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect Dicerna's current views with respect to future events, and Dicerna does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.