Principia Biopharma Appoints Shao-Lee Lin, M.D., Ph.D. to Board of Directors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 18, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Principia Biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq: PRNB), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing transformative oral therapies to patients with significant unmet medical needs in immunology and oncology, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Shao-Lee Lin, M.D., Ph.D., a noted immunologist, rheumatologist, and allergist with significant biopharmaceutical development experience, to its Board of Directors. Dr. Lin is currently Executive Vice President, head of Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer of Horizon Pharma plc., with past corporate experiences at AbbVie Inc., Gilead Sciences, Inc., and Amgen Inc.

“Shao-Lee’s expertise in the medical field comes at a great time for Principia as we continue to develop PRN1008 in both a Phase 3 trial in patients with pemphigus, and a Phase 2 trial in patients with immune thrombocytopenia,” said Martin Babler, Principia’s Chief Executive Officer. “Shao-Lee has extensive experience in developing new medicines, overseeing global development organizations, and leading R&D teams across multiple therapeutic areas.”

Dr. Lin is an accomplished pharmaceutical executive, physician and scientist with more than 20 years of academic and clinical research experience. Prior to her current role at Horizon Pharma, Dr. Lin was Vice President, Therapeutic Areas, Development Excellence and International Development at AbbVie. In that role, she led immunology, virology, neuroscience and general medicine across commercial products and pipeline candidates as well as international development across all therapeutic areas. Prior to AbbVie, Dr. Lin was Vice President, Inflammation and Respiratory Development at Gilead Sciences. She also held leadership poitions in immunology and other therapeutic areas while at Amgen.

Dr. Lin received her medical degree and doctorate at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed fellowships and post-doctoral work in rheumatology, allergy and immunology at the University of California San Diego and The Scripps Clinic and Research Institute. She received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry and chemical engineering from Rice University. Dr. Lin has also been faculty as a Clinical Scholar at The Rockefeller University, and adjunct faculty at Cornell, UCLA, Stanford and Northwestern medical schools.

About Principia Biopharma
Principia is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing transformative oral therapies to patients with significant unmet medical needs in immunology and oncology. Principia’s proprietary Tailored Covalency^® platform enables Principia to design and develop reversible and irreversible covalent, small molecule inhibitors with potencies and selectivities that have the potential to rival those of injectable biologics yet maintain the convenience of a pill. PRN1008, a reversible covalent BTK inhibitor, is being evaluated in a Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with pemphigus, an orphan autoimmune disease, and in a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with immune thrombocytopenia, a rare hematological disease. PRN2246/SAR442168, a covalent BTK inhibitor which crosses the blood-brain barrier, has commenced a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with multiple sclerosis, and has been partnered with Sanofi for development in that disease and, potentially, for other diseases of the central nervous system. PRN1371, a covalent inhibitor of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFR) is being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial in patients with bladder cancer. For more information, please visit www.principiabio.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, Principia’s expectations regarding the Principia pipeline of product candidates, the PRN1008 Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with pemphigus and the PRN1008 Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with immune thrombocytopenia. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause Principia’s actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the Principia’s business in general, see the risk factors set forth in Principia’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Principia specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Christopher Chai, CFO
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