HOUSTON, Dec. 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aravive, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARAV), a clinical-stage oncology company developing transformative therapeutics, today announced that Dr. Ray Tabibiazar will be stepping down from the Aravive Board of Directors but will remain an advisor to the company, effective December 31, 2020. This transition will allow Dr. Tabibiazar to focus on a new venture.
Dr. Tabibiazar co-founded private Aravive Biologics and served as the Chairman of its board of directors and as President and Chief Executive Officer from its inception to April 2017 and as Executive Chairman from May 2017 until October 2018. During that time, he led Aravive Biologics through a reverse merger with Versartis, Inc., to form the combined company, Aravive, Inc. Dr. Tabibiazar remained on the Board of Aravive, Inc. since October 2018.
"On behalf of my fellow directors, the company's management team, and shareholders, I'd like to thank Ray for the significant contributions he made to the company as co-founder, CEO, and most recently during his service on Aravive’s Board," said Fred Eshelman, Pharm.D., Chairman of the Board of Directors. "Ray’s dedication to ensure AVB-500 reaches patients quickly has helped advance our lead program and we wish him the best in his future endeavors."
Dr. Tabibiazar commented, “Aravive’s AVB-500 is a very promising biologic drug with tremendous potential to become a mainstay treatment in several cancers including ovarian and renal, readily combinable with any standard of care therapy given its differentiated mechanism of action and exquisite safety profile. Aravive is in a great position as it advances AVB-500 through the planned registrational study and is tested in additional indications.”
About Aravive
Aravive, Inc. is a clinical-stage oncology company developing transformative therapeutics designed to halt the progression of life-threatening diseases. Aravive’s lead therapeutic, AVB-500, is an ultra-high affinity decoy protein that targets the GAS6-AXL signaling pathway associated with tumor cell growth. Aravive recently successfully completed a Phase 1b trial of AVB-500 in platinum resistant ovarian cancer and selected 15 mg/kg as the dose for the Phase 3 trial. While the Phase 1b trial of AVB-500 in platinum resistant ovarian cancer was a safety trial and not powered to demonstrate efficacy, all 5 patients in the 15 mg/kg cohort experienced clinical benefit, with 1 complete response, 2 partial responses, and 2 stable disease. The Company has initiated and is recruiting for its Phase 1b/2 trial in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma. For more information, please visit www.aravive.com.
