Chris Primiano, J.D., Appointed as Chief Business Officer

Antony Mattessich Appointed to the Board of Directors

CAMBRIDGE, MA – September 29, 2021 – Aura Biosciences, a clinical-stage oncology company developing a novel class of virus-like drug conjugate (VDC) therapies for multiple oncology indications, today announced the appointment of Chris Primiano, J.D., as Chief Business Officer and the appointment of Antony Mattessich to its Board of Directors.

“We are delighted to welcome Chris to our team and Antony to the Board during an important transformational period for Aura. Both of their experiences in strategic advisory, drug development and commercialization in oncology and ophthalmology will be crucial as we work to advance AU-011 to pivotal development and expand our oncology pipeline,” said Elisabet de los Pinos, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Aura.

“I am eager to be joining the Aura team to help expand its novel targeted oncology platform and global reach across multiple indications,” said Mr. Primiano. “AU-011 presents an opportunity to offer a new therapy that may eliminate the need for treatment with local radiotherapy for many patients with choroidal melanoma. This could be transformative in preserving vision and improving quality of life for these patients. I look forward to working with the rest of the management team to achieve Aura’s goal of advancing innovative oncology therapies to patients with life-threatening cancers.”

“It is a privilege to join the Board at this exciting time in the Company’s evolution,” said Mr. Mattessich. “I look forward to working alongside the Board and supporting Aura’s executive team as it lays the groundwork to transform Aura into a commercial-stage oncology company.”

Mr. Primiano joins Aura from Karyopharm Therapeutics, where he served in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Executive Vice President, Chief Business Officer, General Counsel and Secretary. Mr. Primiano played an important role in transitioning Karyopharm from 40 employees in a preclinical and early clinical development setting to 400 employees commercializing XPOVIO® (selinexor) across multiple indications. Prior to Karyopharm, Mr. Primiano was Counsel in the Boston office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. Mr. Primiano holds a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School, a Master of Business Administration from the Boston College Carroll School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy and English from Georgetown University. He is a member of the bars of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of New York.

Mr. Mattessich is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Ocular Therapeutix. Prior to Ocular Therapeutix, he was Managing Director of Mundipharma International based in Cambridge, England. Previous to his time at Mundipharma, Mr. Mattessich ran the U.S. respiratory, dermatology and pediatrics group at Novartis. He also held several positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, among them, Managing Director roles in Malaysia/Singapore and The Netherlands, and Head of Operations for the International Medicines Group. Mr. Mattessich holds a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University.

About Aura Biosciences

Aura Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage oncology company developing a novel technology platform based on virus-like drug conjugates (VDCs) to target and destroy cancer cells selectively while activating the immune system to create long lasting anti-tumor immunity. The VDC technology platform is based on the discoveries of NIH Distinguished Investigator Dr. John Schiller of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The company has the goal of developing this technology in multiple cancer indications with an initial focus in ocular oncology, a group of rare diseases for which there are no approved drugs. Aura’s lead product candidate belzupacap sarotalocan (AU-011) is currently in Phase 2 development for the first line treatment of choroidal melanoma, a vision and life-threatening form of eye cancer where standard of care radioactive treatments leave patients with major vision loss and severe comorbidities. AU-011 was well tolerated in a Phase 1b/2 trial, demonstrating high rates of tumor control and vision preservation. Future pipeline applications for Aura’s technology include additional ocular oncology indications like choroidal metastases and solid tumor indications like non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Aura is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more information, visit www.aurabiosciences.com or follow us on Twitter.

Investor and Media Contact:

Matthew DeYoung
Argot Partners
914-330-6516 | matthew@argotpartners.com