GlobeNewswire Inc | Aug 20, 2020 08:01AM EDT

August 20, 2020

REHOVOT, Israel and WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AYLA) (the Company or Ayala), a clinical-stage oncology company focused on developing and commercializing small molecule therapeutics for patients suffering from rare and aggressive cancers, primarily in genetically defined patient populations, today announced the appointment of Vered Bisker-Leib, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors, joining as a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees.

Vered is a significant addition to our Board of Directors as we continue to grow Ayala as a public company and we are thrilled to be able to tap into her deep strategic, operational and financial expertise, said Roni Mamluk, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Ayala. Through her leadership and strategic experience gained as Chief Operating Officer at Compass Therapeutics and at Bristol-Meyer Squibbs strategic transaction group, Vered will offer a valuable perspective as we continue to further advance our pipeline of novel therapies for genetically defined cancers to patients in need.

I am thrilled to join Ayalas Board of Directors at such an exciting time in the companys life cycle, said Vered Bisker-Leib, Ph.D. Ayalas novel pipeline offers a unique approach to difficult to treat cancers where gamma secretase inhibition provides targeted clinical benefit. I look forward to working closely with the Board and management team to bring Ayala closer to realizing its goals of developing and commercializing small molecule therapeutics for rare and aggressive genetically defined cancers.

Dr. Bisker-Leib brings over 17 years of experience in operational and business development experience in the biotechnology industry. Currently, Dr. Bisker-Leib serves as Chief Operation Officer of Compass Therapeutics, Inc. where she is responsible for finance, business development, strategy, alliance management, legal affairs, operations, investor relations and public relations. Prior to joining the company in 2017 as its Chief Business Officer, she was an Executive-In-Residence at Atlas Ventures, advising portfolio companies. Previously, she was the Chief Business Officer of Cydan, where she co-founded several biotechnology companies including, Imara, Inc., and the Global Head of Business Development of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic franchises at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Bisker-Leib holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Ayala has reached significant milestones in 2020 and is poised to continue on this trajectory, said David Sidransky, M.D., Chairman of the Board. We very much look forward to working with Vered as Ayala continues to execute across multiple upcoming milestones.

About Ayala Pharmaceuticals

Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage oncology company focused on developing and commercializing small molecule therapeutics for patients suffering from rare and aggressive cancers, primarily in genetically defined patient populations. Ayalas approach is focused on predicating, identifying and addressing tumorigenic drivers of cancer through a combination of its bioinformatics platform and next-generation sequencing to deliver targeted therapies to underserved patient populations. The company has two product candidates under development, AL101 and AL102, targeting the aberrant activation of the Notch pathway with gamma secretase inhibitors to treat a variety of tumors including Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL), Desmoid Tumors and Multiple Myeloma (MM) (in collaboration with Novartis). Ayalas lead product candidate, AL101, has received Fast Track Designation and Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. FDA and is currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with ACC (ACCURACY) bearing Notch activating mutations. For more information, visitwww.ayalapharma.com.

Contacts:

Investors: Julie Seidel Stern Investor Relations, Inc. +1-212-362-1200 Julie.seidel@sternir.com

Ayala Pharmaceuticals: +1-857-444-0553 info@ayalapharma.com