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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SYRS) today announced the appointment of industry veteran Gerald E. Quirk as the Company’s first Chief Legal Officer. In this newly created role, Mr. Quirk will hold broad management responsibility for all legal aspects of the business, including corporate and securities law, intellectual property matters, business development transactions and compliance.

“Syros is in a period of robust growth with our recent transition to a publicly traded company and to a clinical-stage organization with a pioneering gene control platform and rapidly advancing pipeline,” said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Syros. “Gerald brings a wealth of legal experience from negotiating strategic partnerships to setting patent strategy, as well as a deep understanding of drug development and commercialization that will serve us well as we continue to build the company and advance our mission of delivering medicines that provide a profound and lasting benefit for patients. I’m thrilled to have him join our team.”

Mr. Quirk brings more than 20 years of senior leadership and legal experience in the biotechnology industry. He was most recently Executive Vice President of Business Operations and General Counsel at Tokai Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for legal and business operations, including human resources, corporate communications and information technology. Prior to Tokai, Mr. Quirk was a partner and co-chair of the life sciences practice at Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP, a Boston law firm. In this role, Mr. Quirk represented leading biopharmaceutical companies in corporate and securities law matters, financing and M&A transactions, and licensing and product development transactions. Before Choate, he was Vice President of Corporate Affairs and General Counsel at Infinity Pharmaceuticals with responsibility for the company’s legal, intellectual property, finance and corporate communications activities, and prior to that, he held progressively responsible legal and business development positions at Genzyme Corporation. Mr. Quirk holds a B.A. in political science from Swarthmore College, an Ed.M. in educational administration from Harvard University, and a J.D. from Northeastern University.

“I was attracted to Syros by the innovative science, the growing pipeline and the tremendous potential of the platform across therapeutic areas and diseases,” said Mr. Quirk. “I’m excited to work with the team to maximize the potential of the platform and programs, continue to build the company and bring novel gene control medicines to patients with diseases that have eluded treatment with other genomic approaches.”

About Syros Pharmaceuticals
Syros Pharmaceuticals is pioneering the understanding of the non-coding region of the genome to advance a new wave of medicines that control expression of disease-driving genes. Syros has built a proprietary platform 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, the Company’s gene control platform has broad potential to achieve profound and durable benefit across a range of diseases. Syros is focused on cancer and immune-mediated diseases and is advancing a growing pipeline, including its lead drug candidates SY-1425, a selective RARα agonist for genomically defined subsets of patients identified by its platform, for a range of cancers including acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, and SY-1365, a selective CDK7 inhibitor for a range of blood cancers and 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: advances in Syros’ product development pipeline; the potential benefits of Syros’ gene control platform; and continued company growth. 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, under the timelines it projects in current and future clinical trials; obtain and maintain patent protection for its drug candidates and the freedom to operate under third party intellectual property; demonstrate in any current and future clinical trials the requisite safety, efficacy and combinability of its drug candidates; obtain and maintain necessary regulatory approvals; identify, enter into and maintain collaboration agreements with third-parties; 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 the company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission; and risks described in other filings that the company 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
Naomi Aoki, 617-283-4298
naoki@syros.com
or
Investor Contact:
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
Jesse Baumgartner, 212-362-1200
Jesse@sternir.com

Source: Syros Pharmaceuticals

Released September 26, 2016