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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SYRS), a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of medicines to control the expression of genes, today announced the appointment of Joseph J. Ferra as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Ferra brings significant financial, strategic and leadership experience in the biotechnology industry.

“Joe has a track record of leveraging his deep expertise in corporate finance and strategy to help companies develop important therapies for patients and deliver significant value for investors,” said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Syros. “That experience, coupled with his leadership ability, will be critical as we advance our clinical-stage pipeline toward the market and continue our evolution to a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with medicines that provide a profound benefit for patients.”

Mr. Ferra most recently served as Managing Director and Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at JMP Securities. Prior to JMP, he was a member of the investment banking groups at UBS and JP Morgan. He joins Syros with over 13 years of investment banking experience, including advising on more than $20 billion in equity, debt and M&A transactions for leading biopharmaceutical companies. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ferra served in sales and engineering roles in the life science tools industry.

“Syros is at an exciting time in its evolution, with data readouts expected this year for its two clinical-stage programs, a growing early-stage pipeline and a leading gene control platform to fuel a robust and sustainable pipeline over the long term,” said Mr. Ferra. “I’m excited to work with the team to build a strong and enduring company that brings new medicines to market for patients with diseases that have largely eluded other approaches.”

Mr. Ferra earned his MBA from The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He obtained a B.S. in Chemistry with Distinction from Purdue University, where he was an author on published papers and conducted research at the National Institutes of Health. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Greater Boston.

About Syros Pharmaceuticals
Syros is pioneering the understanding of the non-coding region of the genome to advance a new wave of medicines that control expression of genes. Syros has built a proprietary platform that is designed to systematically and efficiently analyze this unexploited region of DNA in human disease tissue to identify and drug novel targets linked to genomically defined patient populations. Because gene expression is fundamental to the function of all cells, Syros’ gene control platform has broad potential to create medicines that achieve profound and durable benefit across a range of diseases. Syros is currently focused on cancer and monogenic diseases and is advancing a growing pipeline of gene control medicines. Syros’ lead drug candidates are SY-1425, a selective RARα agonist in a Phase 2 clinical trial for genomically defined subsets of patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, and SY-1365, a selective CDK7 inhibitor in a Phase 1 clinical trial for patients with advanced solid tumors. Led by a team with deep experience in drug discovery, development and commercialization, Syros is located in Cambridge, Mass.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation statements regarding the Company’s ability to achieve its pipeline and company-building goals; its ability to advance its clinical-stage programs, including the reporting of clinical data from ongoing clinical trials of SY-1425 and SY-1365 this year ; and the benefits of Syros’ gene control platform. The words ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘potential,’’ ‘‘predict,’’ ‘‘project,’’ ‘‘target,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘would,’’ and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including Syros’ ability to: advance the development of its programs, including SY-1425 and SY-1365, under the timelines it projects in current and future clinical trials; demonstrate in any current and future clinical trials the requisite safety, efficacy and combinability of its drug candidates; replicate scientific and non-clinical data in clinical trials; successfully develop a companion diagnostic test to identify patients with the RARA and IRF8 biomarkers; obtain and maintain patent protection for its drug candidates and the freedom to operate under third party intellectual property; obtain and maintain necessary regulatory approvals; identify, enter into and maintain collaboration agreements with third parties, including its ability to perform under the collaboration agreement with Incyte; manage competition; manage expenses; raise the substantial additional capital needed to achieve its business objectives; attract and retain qualified personnel; and successfully execute on its business strategies; risks described under the caption “Risk Factors” in Syros’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission; and risks described in other filings that Syros makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Syros expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contact:
Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Naomi Aoki, 617-283-4298
naoki@syros.com
or
Investor Contact:
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
Hannah Deresiewicz, 212-362-1200
hannahd@sternir.com

Source: Syros Pharmaceuticals

Released March 12, 2018