Syros Announces Appointment of Jeremy P. Springhorn as Chief Business Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- NOVEMBER 13, 2017 -- Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SYRS), a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of medicines to control the expression of disease-driving genes, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Jeremy P. Springhorn, Ph.D., as Chief Business Officer. Dr. Springhorn will hold broad management responsibility for business development and strategic planning.

“Syros is at an exciting time in our evolution, with two programs in clinical development, a rich preclinical pipeline and a leading gene control platform with broad potential across a range of diseases and therapeutic areas,” said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Syros. “Jeremy has a track record of leveraging his deep scientific knowledge and strong business acumen to develop novel therapies, create significant value through business development, and support the maturation of early-stage companies into successful commercial enterprises. His expertise and experience will be invaluable as we seek to maximize the value of our programs and platform to build a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company that provides a profound benefit for patients.”

Dr. Springhorn is an industry veteran with 25 years of experience leading scientific, business development and corporate strategy. He was most recently Partner of Corporate Development at Flagship Pioneering. Prior to Flagship, Dr. Springhorn spent more than 20 years at Alexion. He was one of the original scientists at Alexion as well as one of the original inventors of Soliris®. He moved from research to business development, ultimately becoming the Vice President of Corporate Development. In that role, Dr. Springhorn led the acquisitions of Enobia Pharma, Taligen Therapeutics and Orphatec, as well as the partnership with Moderna Therapeutics. Dr. Springhorn also served in a key strategic role as Alexion transitioned from a development-stage to a commercial-stage company. Prior to 1992, Dr. Springhorn was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans and his B.A. from Colby College. He currently serves on the boards of directors of uniQure and Mythic Therapeutics, and belongs to the Board of Overseers of Colby College.

“Syros has built an incredible organization through the quality of its people and the promise of its innovative gene control pipeline and platform to address significant unmet medical needs across a number of therapeutic areas,” said Dr. Springhorn. “I see tremendous opportunity to leverage those assets to build a strong and enduring company and to bring novel therapies to market for currently underserved patients.”

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 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 immune-mediated 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 with potential in a range of solid tumors and blood cancers. 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 promise of Syros’ clinical and preclinical pipeline and its gene control platform, as well as Syros’ ability to become a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company. The words ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘potential,’’ ‘‘predict,’’ ‘‘project,’’ “aim,” ‘‘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; 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; 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’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 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.