Lumos Pharma Promotes John C. McKew, PhD to Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientific Officer

AUSTIN, Texas, April 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lumos Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUMO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on therapeutics for rare diseases, announced the promotion of John C. McKew, PhD to the position of Chief Operating Officer, effective April 1, 2020, in addition to his current role as Chief Scientific Officer. In his new role, Dr. McKew will spearhead the advancement of Lumos Pharma’s clinical development plan and will continue to be a key part of the business development team as the company looks for additional assets to add to its pipeline.

“Dr. McKew has extensive experience in preclinical and clinical development of novel therapeutics across the private and public sector with myriad successes and demonstrated leadership in both realms,” said Rick Hawkins, Chairman, CEO and President. “His prior work in the discovery and advancement of rare therapeutics offers critical support to Lumos Pharma’s clinical strategy, and his proven leadership capabilities serve to further strengthen our management team and the company at large.”

“I am honored to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Lumos Pharma and am excited to work with Rick and our team to advance the company toward our clinical and strategic goals,” Dr. McKew stated.

Dr. McKew has twenty-seven years of experience developing novel therapeutics where he successfully advanced therapies through preclinical and into clinical development. Prior to Lumos Pharma, Dr. McKew served as V.P. of research at aTyr Pharma where he led a research team discovering and advancing protein-based therapeutics for rare diseases. He has also served as Acting Scientific Director for the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) intramural group, a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH). At NCATS, his lab’s work on rare diseases and public/private partnerships led to the collaborative advancement of several therapeutic candidates currently being commercialized by pharmaceutical companies. Prior to his position at the NIH, Dr. McKew held a Director level position at Wyeth Research, after beginning his career at Genetics Institute, Inc., before the two companies merged.