DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Precision BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTIL), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic CAR T and in vivo gene correction therapies with its ARCUS^® genome editing platform, today announced that Alex Kelly has been appointed to the newly created position of Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. In this role, Alex joins the senior leadership team, reporting to Matt Kane, Chief Executive Officer at Precision and will oversee all investor relations and corporate communications.

"Alex brings valuable and meaningful experience leading corporate affairs for some of the most successful healthcare companies in the industry,” said Matt Kane. “His passion for making a difference, and interest in not just making our business better but also our people and place of work are a great fit with our team, and I am excited to work with him closely as we continue to pave the way towards new CAR T and gene editing therapies.”

“With three off-the-shelf CAR T products in the clinic and several homegrown in vivo gene correction candidates in the pipeline, this is an exciting time to join Precision. I am energized to work with the team to create positive and impactful change as we develop truly novel gene and cell therapies with our ARCUS genome editing technology,” said Alex Kelly. “Precision has a rich history, born out of pure determination to make life better, and I look forward to doing my part as we grow and continue to transform.”

Alex joins Precision BioSciences from Allergan, where he was Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer and President of The Allergan Foundation. In these roles, Alex developed internal and external messaging that shaped the company culture and supported several successful company transformations including the recent merger with AbbVie. Alex also had a very active role in shaping Allergan’s Social Contract with Patients, the first commitment by a large biopharma company to provide accessible and affordable medicines. Previously, Alex served as Senior Vice President, Chief Integration Officer for Actavis where he led back-to-back integration efforts for both the acquisition of Forest Labs (in 2014) and Allergan (in 2015). Prior to this role, Alex was Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer, Public Affairs and Investor Relations at Forest Labs where he built a consolidated corporate communications and investor relations team and led integration efforts when Forest Labs acquired Aptalis Pharma. Alex has held additional senior level communications and investor relations roles with increasing responsibility at Bausch + Lomb, Merck, Schering-Plough, Novartis, Pharmacia, and Pharmacia & Upjohn. Currently, Alex is the Vice Chair of the California Life Sciences Association. Alex earned his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Purdue University.

About Precision BioSciences, Inc.
Precision BioSciences, Inc. is a clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to improving life (DTIL) with its novel and proprietary ARCUS^® genome editing platform. ARCUS is a highly specific and versatile genome editing platform that was designed with therapeutic safety, delivery, and control in mind. Using ARCUS, the Company’s pipeline consists of multiple “off-the-shelf” CAR T immunotherapy clinical candidates and several in vivo gene correction therapy candidates to cure genetic and infectious diseases where no adequate treatments exist. For more information about Precision BioSciences please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com.

Contact:
Maurissa Messier
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
maurissa.messier@precisionbiosciences.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f69b24bc-7521-483c-9aab-a1d3b4366707

Alex Kelly

Alex Kelly, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer