Microbion Corporation Appoints Robert A. Gillam as Chairman of Microbion's Board of Directors

BOZEMAN, Mont. and VANCOUVER, BC, July 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Microbion Corporation of Bozeman, MT, today announced that Mr. Robert A. Gillam, CFA, will be joining Microbion's Board of Directors as Chairman, replacing Mr. Karim Lalji in the Board Chairman role effective immediately. Mr. Lalji will continue to serve as Microbion's CEO and on the Board of Directors.

Mr. Gillam is currently Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of McKinley Management, LLC, a privately held firm providing world-class investment, research, consulting, and advisory services from its offices in Anchorage, Juneau and Chicago.  As CEO/CIO, Mr. Gillam is responsible for the firm's overall business strategy, financial health, and investment process.  Mr. Gillam has been with the firm since 1994 in roles including sales, portfolio manager, and head of international investments. He is the principal strategist behind McKinley Capital innovations including Non-U.S., MEASA, and Global Healthcare Transformation investment strategies and the Engineering and Solutions technology platform, the acquisition of McKinley Research Group, LLC (formerly McDowell Group) and most recently, the creation of McKinley Alaska Private Investment, LLC. McKinley Capital was selected as one of Pensions & Investments^© magazine's 2020 Best Places to Work in Money Management.

Mr. Gillam is an Advisory Board Member of the Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Financial Research at the Wharton School. He sits on the Rasmuson Foundation investment committee. He has written numerous pieces of research, including Investing in Global Equity Markets with Particular Emphasis on Chinese Stocks, co-authored with Dr. Harry Markowitz, Ph.D., Dr. John Guerard Jr., Ph.D., and Dr. Shijie Deng. A noted speaker, he has been featured on the Bloomberg Invest forum, at the Milken Institute Global Conference, and the Institute for Fiduciary Education. Mr. Gillam holds a bachelor's degree in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and is a Chartered Financial Analysis (CFA). Rob, his wife, and two sons reside in Anchorage, Alaska, where he enjoys fly fishing, hiking, and wilderness adventures. A third-generation Alaskan, he is passionate about his home state and the unique opportunities found in the Last Frontier.

"We are excited to welcome Rob to Microbion's Board as Chairman in this planned transition," said Karim Lalji, CEO of Microbion Pharma Corp. "Rob's depth of experience and network in the capital markets are key at this exciting time in Microbion's history. Our novel, first in class therapeutic compounds continue to demonstrate disruptive potential as we advance our inhaled treatment for orphan lung infections and other programs through clinical development. We're confident that Rob's involvement will help accelerate our ability to address critical unmet medical needs and drive additional value for our shareholders."

"I look forward to contributing my experience in international capital markets and growth strategy to Microbion's Board," said Rob Gillam, Microbion's Chairman of the Board. "As an investor of Microbion, I've been following the company's novel approach to treat chronic infectious diseases for several years and strongly believe it is on the verge of breaking out with key value inflection data read outs. I will work closely with fellow Board members and Microbion's executive management to maximize the company's success and value to all our stakeholders, including patients, caregivers, partners, and investors."

"I've known Rob for several years and he has been an ardent supporter of Microbion's technology and vision," said Dr. Brett Baker, Microbion's Founder, President and Chief Innovation Officer. "Rob will play an essential role in our efforts to grow and create further value in the company.  We have strong momentum as we advance inhaled pravibismane for treatment of lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients with the support of our partners, CARB-X and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and are currently in the late planning stages to conduct a Phase 2 study for topical pravibismane treatment of diabetic foot ulcer infections anticipated to start later this year.  I'm excited to see how Rob's leadership and experience will help us build on this momentum."

About Microbion

Microbion is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing a new class of therapeutic compounds designed to address critical unmet medical needs of life-threatening and chronic diseases. Microbion's lead drug candidate, pravibismane, is the first product in this new class and has a novel mechanism of action. Pravibismane is the first known anti-infective drug demonstrating safe, broad- spectrum potency against multi-drug resistant bacteria/superbugs, resistant fungal pathogens, and bacterial biofilms that contribute to antibiotic-resistance and chronic disease. The company is developing inhaled pravibismane for treatment of cystic fibrosis-related and non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung infections, and topical/local pravibismane for treatment of chronic wounds and orthopedic infections. Pravibismane's potential as a viable therapeutic has been validated through ~$23M in non-dilutive grants awarded to-date from the National Institute of Health, U.S. Army, CARB-X, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The FDA has granted Microbion Fast Track, QIDP and Orphan Drug designations.   Microbion Corporation has previously closed a Series A financing of US$25M from GHS Fund (Quark Venture LP and GF Securities). 

For more information visit: www.microbioncorp.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain of the statements made in this press release are forward-looking, such as those, among others, relating to the success of clinical development of pravibismane and preparation for potential commercialization. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: our ability to enroll patients in our clinical trials at the pace that we project; the size and growth of the potential markets for pravibismane or any future product candidates and our ability to serve those markets; our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of pravibismane or any future product candidates; and our expectations regarding the potential safety, efficacy or clinical utility of pravibismane or any future product candidates. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward-looking statements. Microbion Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CARB-X funding for the pravibismane project is sponsored by Cooperative Agreement Number IDSEP160030 from ASPR/BARDA and by awards from Wellcome Trust and Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of CARB-X or any of its funders

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Investor/Media Contact:

Edmond Lee
Director, Business Operations
Microbion Corp.
E: [email protected]

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SOURCE Microbion