Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Appoints William Quinn as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Development

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNSS) today announced the appointment of William Quinn as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Development. Willie brings deep and relevant healthcare industry experience to Sunesis, most recently serving as CEO and Co-Founder of the private cancer immunotherapy company Bullet Biotechnology. Prior to Bullet Bio, he led Corporate Development and Strategy at Jazz Pharmaceuticals.

“Willie is a tremendous addition to the Sunesis team with a track record of achievement in both finance and corporate development,” said Daniel Swisher, Chief Executive Officer of Sunesis. “We are ecstatic to have him join us now and welcome his insights and expertise as we accelerate the development of our non-covalent reversible BTK inhibitor SNS-062 and advance the rest of our kinase inhibitor pipeline to key inflection points.”

“I was drawn to this opportunity by the enormous upside potential of Sunesis’ pipeline, and am thrilled to be joining at this exciting time for the Company,” stated Mr. Quinn. “SNS-062 has the potential to address significant unmet needs in the treatment of hematological malignancies, and I look forward to working with this high-performing leadership team to deliver on Sunesis’ mission of developing new and better treatment options for cancer patients.”

Prior to joining Sunesis, Mr. Quinn was President and Chief Executive Officer of Bullet Biotechnology, a company developing immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, which he founded in 2011. At Bullet Bio, Willie partnered with multiple biopharma companies and universities, raised multiple round of equity and convertible debt funding, and oversaw early development of several products. From 2003 to 2011, Mr. Quinn held various management positions at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, helping the company grow from a four-person startup to a successful commercial specialty pharmaceutical company. During his tenure at Jazz, Mr. Quinn managed investor relations, partnering, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic planning activities. He began his career in the life science industry at Novation Biosciences. Willie also has prior investing experience from his time as an Associate Partner at Mobius Venture Capital.

Mr. Quinn obtained his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and also earned an MA and BA from Stanford University.

About Sunesis Pharmaceuticals

Sunesis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new oncology therapeutics for the future treatment of solid and hematologic cancers. Sunesis has built an experienced cancer drug development organization committed to improving the lives of people with cancer. The Company is focused on advancing its novel kinase-inhibitor pipeline, with an emphasis on establishing proof of concept that its oral non-covalent BTK-inhibitor, SNS-062, is effective in ibrutinib-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia. SNS-062 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1b/2, open-label, sequential-group, dose-escalation and cohort-expansion study in adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, or mantle cell lymphoma who have progressed after prior therapies. Beyond the development of SNS-062, the Company has two other kinase inhibitor programs, including the Takeda-partnered pan-RAF inhibitor TAK-580, which is in solid tumor trials, and Sunesis’ proprietary preclinical PDK1 inhibitor SNS-510, which has completed non-GLP toxicology studies and has been designated a Development Candidate.  PDK1 is a master kinase that activates other kinases important to cell growth and survival including members of the AKT, PKC, RSK and SGK families.

For additional information on Sunesis, please visit www.sunesis.com.

SUNESIS and the logos are trademarks of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to the continued development of SNS-062, including the timing of Phase 1b/2 trial of SNS-062 and the therapeutic potential of SNS-062, further development and potential of its kinase inhibitor pipeline, and planned development of SNS-510. Words such as “future,” “look forward,” “potential,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Sunesis' current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Sunesis' actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, the risk related to the timing or conduct of Sunesis' clinical trials, including SNS-062 Phase 1b/2 trial, the risk that Sunesis' clinical or preclinical studies for SNS-062, SNS-510 or other product candidate may not demonstrate safety or efficacy or lead to regulatory approval, the risk that data to date and trends may not be predictive of future data or results, risks related to the timing or conduct of Sunesis' clinical trials, that Sunesis' development activities for SNS-062 or SNS-510 could be otherwise halted or significantly delayed for various reasons, that Sunesis may not be able to receive regulatory approval of SNS-062, or SNS-510 in the U.S. or Europe,  and risks related to Sunesis' ability to raise the capital that it believes to be accessible and is required to fully finance the development and commercialization of SNS-062, SNS-510 and other product candidates. These and other risk factors are discussed under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Sunesis' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 and Sunesis' other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Sunesis expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein reflect any change in Sunesis' expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.