IDEAYA Biosciences Appoints Dr. Karlene Cimprich, Ph.D. and Dr. Kornelia Polyak, M.D., Ph.D. to Scientific Advisory Board

-    Dr. Karlene Cimprich, Ph.D. (Stanford University), is a leading scientist in replication stress mechanisms and regulation of DNA Damage Repair pathways

-    Dr. Kornelia Polyak, M.D., Ph.D. (DFCI, Harvard University) is a renowned physician-scientist focused on breast cancer clinical management and tumor biology

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:IDYA), a synthetic lethality focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics, announced the appointment of Dr. Karlene Cimprich, Ph.D., and Dr. Kornelia Polyak, M.D., Ph.D., to its Scientific Advisory Board. 

Dr. Cimprich, Ph.D., is a Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University School of Medicine, and a member of Stanford's Cancer Institute. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which a cell maintains genome stability in the context of DNA replication, and how dysregulation of replication processes in cancer cells can inform therapeutic approaches. Her work is relevant to IDEAYA's potential first-in-class pipeline programs in synthetic lethality DNA Damage Repair.

Dr. Polyak, M.D, Ph.D., is a Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, a co-leader of the Cancer Cell Biology Program at the Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Center, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. Her research is exploring breast cancer tumor biology, including tumor evolution and heterogeneity, and characterizing breast cancer risks to improve clinical management of breast cancer patients.  IDEAYA plans to clinically evaluate IDE161, its potential first-in-class inhibitor of poly (ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG), as monotherapy, including in BRCA1/2-mutant breast cancer patients. 

"I am very pleased to welcome Drs. Cimprich and Polyak as we continue to expand the breadth and depth of medical and scientific expertise on the IDEAYA Scientific Advisory Board. Drs. Cimprich and Polyak bring significant scientific acumen which will help IDEAYA understand fundamental mechanisms of cancer biology relevant to its clinical and preclinical programs," said Dr. Frank McCormick, Professor at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chair of Tumor Biology and Cancer Research at UCSF, who serves as the Chair of IDEAYA's Scientific Advisory Board. 

"Our Scientific Advisory Board is integral to advancing our synthetic lethality programs. We are building a broad pipeline of precision medicine oncology therapeutics which have the potential to deliver significant patient benefit," observed Michael White, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of IDEAYA Biosciences.

Other members of IDEAYA's Scientific Advisory Board, in addition to Drs. McCormick, Cimprich and Polyak, include Dr. William Sellers, M.D. (Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School), Dr. Elizabeth Swisher, M.D. (University of Washington), and Dr. Trey Ideker, Ph.D. (University of California at San Diego).

About IDEAYA Biosciences
IDEAYA is a synthetic lethality focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics for patient populations selected using molecular diagnostics. IDEAYAs approach integrates capabilities in identifying and validating translational biomarkers with drug discovery to select patient populations most likely to benefit from its targeted therapies. IDEAYA is applying its research and drug discovery capabilities to synthetic lethality – which represents an emerging class of precision medicine targets.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements related to (i) the discovery and development of effective precision medicine therapeutics and (ii) the potential for patient benefit. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause IDEAYA's preclinical and clinical development programs, future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, including IDEAYA's programs' early stage of development, the process of designing and conducting preclinical and clinical trials, the regulatory approval processes, the timing of regulatory filings, the challenges associated with manufacturing drug products, IDEAYA's ability to successfully establish, protect and defend its intellectual property, the effects on IDEAYA's business of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and other matters that could affect the sufficiency of existing cash to fund operations. IDEAYA undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of IDEAYA in general, see IDEAYA's recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 8, 2022, and any current and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor and Media Contact
IDEAYA Biosciences
Paul Stone
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]

SOURCE IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc.