Eleven Biotherapeutics Announces Promotions of Gary Sternberg, MD, MBA to Chief Business Officer and John McCabe, CPA to Senior Vice President, Finance

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBIO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing protein therapeutics to treat diseases of the eye, announced the promotions of Gary Sternberg, MD, MBA, to Chief Business Officer and John McCabe, CPA, to Senior Vice President, Finance. Mr. McCabe is also Eleven's Principal Financial and Accounting Officer.

"Eleven is excited about the business development and financial branches of our organization as we look to execute on our mission of discovering and developing innovative ocular therapeutics, and to advance the development of our lead product candidate, EBI-005 for the treatment of moderate to severe allergic conjunctivitis."
"Gary and John have demonstrated strong leadership and played critical roles in advancing Eleven to this point in the company's growth," said Abbie Celniker, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eleven Biotherapeutics. "Eleven is excited about the business development and financial branches of our organization as we look to execute on our mission of discovering and developing innovative ocular therapeutics, and to advance the development of our lead product candidate, EBI-005 for the treatment of moderate to severe allergic conjunctivitis."

Gary Sternberg has served as Executive Vice President, Corporate and Business Development of Eleven since May 2014, and brings more than 20 years of ophthalmology expertise to the company, including pharmaceutical industry experience and medical practice. Prior to joining Eleven, he served as Therapeutic Head of Ophthalmic Medical Affairs in the United States for Genentech, a division of the Roche Group. Previously, Dr. Sternberg served as Executive Director, Strategic Transactions Group for Bristol-Myers Squibb, with responsibility for licensing across multiple therapeutic areas. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sternberg served as Chief Business Officer for Fovea Pharmaceuticals, an ophthalmic-focused biotechnology company, and as Vice President of Alliance Management and Business Development for Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. and (OSI) Eyetech, Inc., OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s eyecare subsidiary. Dr. Sternberg was a practicing board-certified ophthalmologist prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry. He earned his MD from the State University of New York – Brooklyn and conducted his postgraduate residency training in Ophthalmology and fellowship training in Cornea, External Diseases and Refractive Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He obtained his MBA from the University of Chicago.

John McCabe has served as Vice President of Finance and Business Operations of Eleven since June 2013 and as Treasurer since September 2012. He served as Senior Director of Finance of Eleven from April 2012 to June 2013, bringing more than 20 years of finance and accounting experience to the company. Prior to joining Eleven, Mr. McCabe was Vice President of Finance at Clinical Data, Inc., a drug development company that was acquired by Forest Laboratories after FDA approval of its lead drug product for depression, Viibryd®. Previously, Mr. McCabe served in several financial roles at Interleukin Genetics, Inc., a genetics-focused personalized health company, and SatCon Technology Corporation, a developer of innovative power conversion solutions. Mr. McCabe began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Vermont and is a Certified Public Accountant.

About Eleven Biotherapeutics

Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary protein engineering platform, called AMP-Rx, that it applies to the discovery and development of protein therapeutics to treat diseases of the eye. The Company's therapeutic approach is based on the role of cytokines in diseases of the eye, the Company's understanding of the structural biology of cytokines and the Company's ability to rationally design and engineer proteins to modulate the effects of cytokines. Cytokines are cell signaling molecules found in the body that can have important inflammatory effects. For more information please refer to the Company's website www.elevenbio.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including statements about the Company's strategy, future operations, advancement or maturation of its product candidates and product pipeline, clinical development of the Company's therapeutic candidates, including expectations regarding timing of initiation of clinical trials, patient enrollment and availability of results, regulatory requirements for initiation of clinical trials and registration of product candidates, sufficiency of cash resources and other statements containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "target," "potential," "will," "would," "could," "should," "continue," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties inherent in the initiation and conduct of clinical trials, availability and timing of data from ongoing clinical trials, whether results of early clinical trials will be indicative of the results of future trials, the adequacy of any clinical models, uncertainties associated with regulatory review of clinical trials and applications for marketing approvals and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q most recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date hereof. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.

Contacts

Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Leah Monteiro, 617-714-0619
[email protected]