Idera Pharmaceuticals Announces Management Appointments and Promotion

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDRA) today announced the appointments of Robert Arbeit, M.D., as Vice President of Clinical Development, and Nicola La Monica, Ph.D., as Vice President of Biology, and the promotion of Timothy Sullivan, Ph.D., the Company’s Vice President of Development Programs, to Vice President of Development Programs and Alliance Management.

“We are very pleased to have Bob and Nicola join our team and expect them to make contributions to Idera’s discovery and development programs across a broad range of diseases, including infectious diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, cancer, and asthma and allergies,” commented Sudhir Agrawal, D. Phil., President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer. “For over eight years, Tim has played an integral part in advancing our Toll-like Receptor-targeted drug candidates, IMO-2055, IMO-2125, and IMO-3100, and has actively participated in collaborative programs. In his added role, Tim will facilitate the coordination of our current collaborative programs and any future collaborations we enter into.”

“My colleagues join me in thanking Alice Bexon, MBChB, for her service as Vice President of Clinical Development at Idera. We value Dr. Bexon’s strategic and operational contributions to our clinical programs since 2007, and we look forward to her continued involvement in working with Idera as she transitions to a consulting role,” continued Dr. Agrawal.

Dr. Robert Arbeit most recently served as Vice President of Clinical Development at Paratek Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, from 2001 to 2002, he served as Executive Medical Director at Cubist Pharmaceuticals. From 1979 to 2000, Dr. Arbeit held positions with increasing levels of responsibility at the VA Medical Center in Boston, where his last position was Associate Chief of Staff for Research. Dr. Arbeit earned an M.D. and completed his medical residency at Yale University School of Medicine. He completed a Clinical Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA. Dr. Arbeit has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, textbook chapters and peer-reviewed articles. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Dr. Nicola La Monica most recently served as Director of Antiviral Research at IRBM, a division of Merck Research Laboratories, in Rome, Italy, where he has worked from 1991 to 2009. During his tenure at Merck, Dr. La Monica has held positions with increasing levels of responsibility and has led drug discovery efforts in the area of Hepatitis C Virus and oncology, as well as development programs for cancer immunotherapy. Dr. La Monica earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Columbia University in 1988. He has authored or co-authored over 84 publications and is co-inventor on 13 patents, issued or pending worldwide.

Dr. Sullivan joined the Company as Senior Director, Preclinical Drug Development in 2002 and was promoted to the position of Vice President, Development Programs in 2004. As Vice President of Development Programs and Alliance Management, Dr. Sullivan will now also be responsible for facilitating the coordination of the Company’s collaborative programs.

About Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Idera Pharmaceuticals develops drug candidates to treat infectious diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, cancer, and respiratory diseases, and for use as vaccine adjuvants. Our proprietary drug candidates are designed to modulate specific Toll-like Receptors, which are a family of immune system receptors that direct immune system responses. Our pioneering DNA and RNA chemistry expertise enables us to create drug candidates for internal development and generates opportunities for multiple collaborative alliances. For more information, visit www.iderapharma.com.

Idera Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "estimates," "intends," "should," "could," "will," "may," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including whether products based on the Company’s technology will advance into or through the clinical trial process on a timely basis or at all and receive approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies; whether, if the Company’s products receive approval, they will be successfully distributed and marketed; whether the Company’s cash resources will be sufficient to fund its operations; and such other important factors as are set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, which important factors are incorporated herein by reference. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.



CONTACT:

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Kelly Luethje, 617-679-5519
[email protected]
or
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Chris Erdman, 781-235-3060
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Massachusetts

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Biotechnology  Genetics  Infectious Diseases  Oncology  Pharmaceutical

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