Exhibit 99.1
Five Prime Therapeutics Announces David V. Smith will Join as Chief Financial Officer
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 5, 2018 —Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FPRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative immuno-oncology protein therapeutics, today announced that industry veteran David V. Smith will join the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective November 26, 2018.
As CFO, Mr. Smith will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Aron Knickerbocker and be a member of the Executive Team. He will be responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the company, including accounting and financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, financial operations and tax and treasury, as well as investor relations and procurement.
“We are delighted to welcome David to Five Prime. His wealth of industry and financial leadership experience will serve Five Prime and our stakeholders well,” said Aron Knickerbocker, Chief Executive Officer of Five Prime Therapeutics. “In addition to his depth of experience, David also brings impressive breadth of experience, having worked at a mix of both large and small companies as well as commercial and pre-commercial businesses. I would also like to thank Linda Rubinstein for her excellent work as Interim CFO, which allowed us to be thoughtful and deliberate in our search to find the right individual for the permanent CFO role. We wish Linda well in her future endeavors.”
Mr. Smith brings more than 20 years of experience serving as an executive officer overseeing financial planning and reporting, operations management, investor relations and strategy at multiple companies in the biotechnology industry. He most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of IntegenX, Inc. until its acquisition earlier this year by Thermo Fisher Scientific. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer at each of Thoratec Corporation, Chiron Corporation, and Anergen, Inc., and in various accounting and financial leadership roles at Genentech, Inc.
“I am thrilled to join Five Prime at this exciting time in the company’s growth and development,” said Mr. Smith. “With a robust portfolio of drug candidates and impressive target and product discovery capabilities, Five Prime is well positioned to be a leader in immuno-oncology drug discovery and development. I look forward to working with Aron and all of the team to help make that a reality.”
