Exhibit 99.1
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Alector Provides Executive Leadership Update
Planned Transitions Announced for Shehnaaz Suliman, M.D., MBA, MPhil, President and Chief
Operating Officer and Robert Paul, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer
Sam Jackson, M.D., MBA, Appointed Interim Chief Medical Officer
South San Francisco, California, September 7, 2021 — Alector, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALEC), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering immuno-neurology, today announced that Shehnaaz Suliman, M.D., MBA, M.Phil., and Robert Paul, M.D., Ph.D., will be stepping down from their respective roles as President and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Medical Officer. Each will continue to serve for a transition period and plan to remain available as advisors until the end of 2021. Sam Jackson, M.D., MBA, Senior Vice President, Clinical Sciences, will assume the role of interim Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Jackson is an established leader with more than 15 years of experience leading clinical development functions. He joined Alector in 2020 and among his primary responsibilities is the development of AL001, which is currently in Phase 3 clinical testing for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia.
“Shehnaaz and Robert’s contributions, including recruiting strong senior leaders such as Sam, have transformed Alector into a leading, well resourced, immuno-neurology drug developer, with one of the deepest and most advanced pipelines of neurodegenerative therapeutic candidates in industry. On behalf of the Alector team and board, we are grateful for their leadership and I am confident that they will excel in their future endeavors,” said Arnon Rosenthal, Ph.D., Alector’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “I am looking forward to the next phase of Alector’s growth; with a solid foundation and resources in place, we are well positioned to advance our clinical-stage programs as well as our pipeline of preclinical immuno-neurology and innate immuno-oncology candidates.”
Alector is currently conducting six clinical studies for four clinical-stage immune-neurology candidates, with plans to advance a new candidate for neurodegenerative diseases and two immune-oncology candidates into the clinic in 2022.
Dr. Suliman joined Alector in 2019 and provided strategic and operational leadership while overseeing the company’s early development, portfolio, business development, finance, investor relations, legal and administrative functions.
“It has been my privilege to work alongside Arnon and our colleagues to drive significant value and substantial growth during my time at Alector,” said Dr. Suliman. “The company is well positioned to succeed, and I am looking forward to pursuing a future chief executive leadership role with a focus on advancing groundbreaking scientific insights into viable treatments that can improve patient’s lives.”
Robert Paul joined Alector in 2016 and has been responsible for advancing all four of Alector’s immuno-neurology programs into the clinic and laying the foundation for the company’s overarching development strategy, which includes taking a portfolio approach and leveraging biomarkers to inform clinical studies and efficient go/no go decisions.
