Dr. Kristine Swiderek Appointed to the Board of Directors of Sitka Biopharma Inc.

NEW YORK, Sept. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  LifeSci Advisors, an investor relations and corporate communications firm focused on the life sciences sector, announced today the 10th placement of a female executive to a life sciences company board as part of its Board Placement Initiative (BPI). LifeSci Advisors launched BPI last year with the goal of connecting female executives in the life sciences industry with companies looking for board candidates. The company is pleased to share that Dr. Kristine Swiderek, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of OncoResponse, has joined the Board of Directors of Sitka Biopharma Inc., a Canadian biotechnology company focused on developing its breakthrough nanoparticle platform technology to increase absorption of drugs in difficult-to-penetrate tissues. Dr. Swiderek’s placement marks a milestone for BPI as the 10th successful appointment made by the program in just one year. LifeSci Advisors will continue to make connections and look to match more candidates in the coming months.

“I am honored to serve on the Board of Directors of Sitka Biopharma,” said Dr. Swiderek. “I look forward to helping the company as it works to advance products in the industry and improve the lives of patients. I would like to thank LifeSci Advisors for facilitating this introduction and the work the Board Placement Initiative is doing to place talented, qualified women on the boards of companies in the life sciences industry.”

Dr. Swiderek is the Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of venture backed OncoResponse, a company focusing in immuno-oncology, discovering and developing novel cancer Immunotherapies. She brings deep expertise in clinical, R&D, partnering and alliance management to Sitka’s Board. Previously as CSO at Theraclone Sciences, she formed multiple R&D partnerships with Pfizer, Gilead, non-profit organizations and academia and helped advance therapeutic candidates into the clinic. She also served as Vice President, Protein Science at ZymoGenetics, a public company, where she managed extensive internal and external partner portfolios. As Senior Director in Protein Biochemistry, she helped develop the PEG-Interferon lambda program, which ultimately was a cornerstone for a $1.1B partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Swiderek did her post-doctoral training at the City of Hope, CA, and Indiana University following a Ph.D. at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. Dr. Swiderek is currently based in Seattle, WA.

“Dr. Swiderek’s experience will be an incredible asset to the Sitka Board of Directors,” said Michael Rice, President and Co-Founder, LifeSci Advisors. “We are thrilled that LifeSci Advisors’ Board Placement Initiative has been able to play a role in facilitating this appointment and excited to mark this milestone of our 10th board placement in just one year. Our program is designed to support women in our industry and make the life sciences a more diverse and inclusive space. We look forward to continuing to successfully match candidates with companies across the industry and hope to see more placements in the coming months.”

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Swiderek to the Sitka Biopharma Board,” said Dr. Michael Parr, President and Chief Scientific Officer, Sitka Biopharma. “Her energy and expertise in clinical development will prove invaluable as we continue to advance our leading product toward the clinic, and ultimately improve the lives of patients living with bladder cancer. I’d like to thank LifeSci Advisors for making an introduction to such a great board director.”

LifeSci Advisors’ Board Placement Initiative (BPI) was launched in the summer of 2016 with the goal of helping companies in the life sciences industry diversify and strengthen their company boards. Connections between companies and eligible board candidates are made after LifeSci has met with a company’s management team or board regarding the skills and expertise they are looking for in a candidate, and after the LifeSci team has properly vetted the board candidates. BPI has now helped to place ten women on corporate boards, and is looking to continue to expand upon this success. With a proprietary online network of hundreds of resumes of board-ready women, LifeSci Advisors hopes that BPI can become a resource for both women executives and life sciences companies to network and grow.

BPI is accepting resumes from interested candidates and referrals on an ongoing basis. To find out how you can use the BPI network for your next board candidate search, visit www.lifesciadvisors.com/board-diversity-initiatives. Inquiries, resume submissions, and open board seat referrals can be sent to boarddiversity@lifesciadvisors.com.

LifeSci Advisors, LLC (www.lifesciadvisors.com) is a unique investor relations consultancy founded to provide companies in the life sciences a comprehensive solution to investor communications and outreach. With a local presence in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, London, Geneva and Tel Aviv, the firm provides the highest quality service for its clients through its deep sector specialization. Our roster of PhDs enables us to better understand our clients' R&D, regulatory, and commercial strategies, and our team of financial services, investor relations, and public relations specialists help our clients effectively communicate to the marketplace. This combination of life sciences, financial services, and investor relations competencies allows us to provide a valuable and unique service offering to our clients.

LifeSci Partners (www.lifescipartners.com) is the leading provider of comprehensive consulting services in the areas of investor relations, corporate communications, public relations and capital markets advisory.  Combining deep domain expertise in the life sciences with decades of experience in capital markets and public relations, we deliver unparalleled services to life sciences companies globally.  LifeSci Partners has a physical presence in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, London, Geneva and Tel Aviv.