Aduro Biotech Announces Strategic Reset

BERKELEY, Calif., Jan. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aduro Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADRO) today announced a strategic reset to focus on Aduro’s core strengths – discovery and development of novel product candidates in the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and a proliferation inducing ligand (APRIL) pathways. Aduro is partnered with Novartis for STING pathway activators in oncology, including ADU-S100 (MIW815), and Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) for cGAS-STING pathway inhibitors in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. BION-1301, a first-in-class anti-APRIL antibody, is currently in development in oncology and IgA nephropathy. As a result of the strategic reset, Aduro has reduced its current workforce by approximately 37% and redirected resources to these lead programs. The reduction in ongoing operating expenses is expected to extend the Company’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities into 2022, exclusive of potential future milestone payments from its collaborations with Novartis, Lilly and Merck.

“Over the years, Aduro has demonstrated a proven track record in the discovery of small molecules and biologics. As our portfolio has evolved and with a strong cash position, the Executive Team and Board concluded this is the right time to proactively reduce operating expenses and invest more purposefully in STING and APRIL development,” said Stephen T. Isaacs, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Aduro. “We are committed to maintaining a leadership role in the STING and APRIL pathways, and generating multiple clinical data readouts over the next several years. The strategic reset will also allow us to explore new partnership opportunities for our deprioritized programs, including pLADD, ADU-1604 (anti-CTLA-4) and ADU-1805 (anti-SIRPα). While this was a difficult decision, I want to thank the employees who are leaving for their contributions to Aduro.”

Aduro ended 2018 with $277.9 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, and the Company collected a $12 million upfront payment from its research collaboration and license agreement with Lilly in the first quarter of 2019.

About Aduro
Aduro Biotech, Inc. is an immunotherapy company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies that are intended to transform the treatment of challenging diseases. Aduro's technologies, which are designed to harness the body's natural immune system, are being investigated in cancer indications, autoimmune diseases and have the potential to expand into infectious diseases. Aduro's STING pathway activator technology is designed to activate the STING receptor in immune cells, which may result in a potent tumor-specific immune response. ADU-S100 (MIW815) is the first STING pathway activator compound to enter the clinic and is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial as a single agent and in combination with ipilimumab and in a Phase 1b combination trial with spartalizumab (PDR001), an investigational anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody. Aduro’s B-select monoclonal antibody technology, including BION-1301, an anti-APRIL antibody, is comprised of a number of immune modulating assets in research and development. Aduro is collaborating with leading global pharmaceutical companies to expand its products and technologies. For more information, please visit www.aduro.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions or current expectations concerning, among other things, the potential benefits from our strategic reset, including reduced expenses and our ability to fund operations into 2022, the potential for our technology, the timing and volume of clinical data, payment of future milestones, maintaining a leadership role in the STING and APRIL pathways, exploring partnership opportunities for deprioritized programs and our ability to advance our drug development programs on our own or with our collaborators. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “will,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “project,” “expect” or the negative or plural of these words or similar expressions.  Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, early or preliminary clinical trial results may not be predictive of future results, our history of net operating losses and uncertainty regarding our ability to achieve profitability, our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates, our ability to use and expand our technologies to build a pipeline of product candidates, our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates, our ability to operate in a competitive industry and compete successfully against competitors that have greater resources than we do, our reliance on third parties, and our ability to obtain and adequately protect intellectual property rights for our product candidates.  We discuss many of these risks in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.