Leidos Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board to Advance its Pre-Clinical Drug Development

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Feb 10, 2020, 16:05 ET

RESTON, Va., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a FORTUNE® 500 science and technology leader, announced today the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for its Explorations in Global Health (ExGloH) division within the Leidos Health Group. The ExGloH SAB is an esteemed group of experts in oncology and drug development chosen to advance ExGloH in its development of their pre-clinical pipeline of peptide-based immune modulators.

ExGloH is dedicated to developing new immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. ExGloH SAB members will work closely with ExGloH leadership to evolve the pre-clinical development of its lead drug candidate LD10, a novel peptide-based, immuno-modulator for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.

"We are excited and privileged to have the opportunity to work with this group of oncology and infectious disease thought leaders on drug development initiatives from discovery through drug commercialization," said James Pannucci, Ph.D., vice president and director of ExGloH. "Their insights will help advance our pipeline of peptide-based checkpoint inhibitors, beginning with LD10 clinical development."

The ExGloH SAB will be comprised of the following members:

Chairman, Philip Hinds, Ph.D, professor and chair of the Department of Developmental, Molecular, and Chemical Biology (DMCB) at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), specializes in oncology, cell and developmental biology, and molecular biology. His seminal studies were the first to demonstrate that P53 possesses tumor suppressor activity and is subject to inactivating point mutations in human cancers.

Jose Conejo-Garcia, MD, Ph.D., is the chair of the Department of Immunology at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Research Institute, and co-leader of the Immunology Program at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. An expert in the field of Tumor Immunology, he has been cited in numerous publications for his contributions to elucidate many of the mechanisms driving protective immunity against gynecologic cancers.

Patrick K. Lucy, a founder and current chief business officer (CBO) of Pfenex Inc, is an experienced leader with more than 26 years of experience in the bio-pharmaceutical industry. As CBO he is responsible for the overall portfolio strategy and business development for the company. Lucy also has experience in the areas of alliance management, product and technology licensing, intellectual property, and bio-pharmaceutical processing, operations, facility design, construction and validation.

About ExGloH

ExGloH is a division within the Leidos Health Group dedicated to developing new immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. ExGloH's strives to develop a new class of anti-cancer and infectious disease peptides which can be used in primary and home care settings. The advancement of the Microtide platform allows for further discovery of checkpoint receptors. For more information, visit www.leidos.com/markets/science/biotechnology/exgloh.

About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500^® information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 36,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $10.19 billion for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2018. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 28, 2018, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.