Agios Announces Orlando Oliveira Appointed as Senior Vice President and General Manager, International

Mr. Oliveira to Lead the Build-Out of European Operations, Rest-of-World Commercial Strategy and Expected EU Launch of TIBSOVO®

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO), a leader in the field of cellular metabolism to treat cancer and rare genetic diseases, today announced the appointment of Orlando Oliveira to the role of senior vice president and general manager, international, who will be responsible for building and leading the company’s operations outside of the U.S. in support of the expected launch of TIBSOVO^® in Europe and potentially other select markets. Mr. Oliveira will be based in Zug, Switzerland and report to Jackie Fouse, Ph.D., chief executive officer at Agios.

“I strongly believe that the key to building a successful commercial organization in Europe starts with leadership, and Orlando’s experience establishing an international footprint for multiple companies makes him the ideal candidate,” said Dr. Fouse. “With our marketing authorization application for TIBSOVO^® under review with the EMA, Orlando will be focused on building a team and infrastructure to best position Agios for our near-term and future launches in oncology and rare genetic diseases outside of the U.S.”

Prior to Agios, Mr. Oliveira served as senior vice president and general manager, international at TESARO from September 2015 to June 2019 where, as its first international employee, he headed the build out of the company’s EU presence and lead the approval, reimbursement and multiple successful country launches of two oncology drugs, Varuby^® (rolapitant) and ZEJULA^® (niraparib), across key international markets. Before TESARO, Mr. Oliveira was vice president, Europe and intercontinental operations at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where he led a team of executives that managed 19 countries across Europe, Canada, and Australia and was responsible for all alliances within Cubist covering Japan, China, LATAM, and the MENA regions. Previously, Mr. Oliveira held several positions at Amgen, including country leadership roles in Portugal and Mexico, and international oncology marketing roles first as head of oncology in the Nordic region and head of the international filgrastim franchise based in Switzerland. He began his career in sales at Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Oliveira earned his pharmacy degree from the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

“Agios has done an incredible job of developing important new medicines for patients and building an impressive early and late stage pipeline in cancer and rare genetic diseases,” said Mr. Oliveira. “I’m excited by the opportunity to build a stellar international team to bring these therapies to patients in Europe and potentially other parts of the world.”

About Agios
Agios is focused on discovering and developing novel investigational medicines to treat cancer and rare genetic diseases through scientific leadership in the field of cellular metabolism. In addition to an active research and discovery pipeline across both therapeutic areas, Agios has two approved oncology precision medicines and multiple first-in-class investigational therapies in clinical and/or preclinical development. All Agios programs focus on genetically identified patient populations, leveraging our knowledge of metabolism, biology and genomics. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.agios.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include those regarding the expected benefits of Mr. Oliveira’s employment and Agios’ strategic plans and focus. The words "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plans," "will," "outlook" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from Agios' current expectations and beliefs. For example, there can be no guarantee that any product candidate Agios is developing will successfully commence or complete necessary preclinical and clinical development phases, that development of any of Agios' product candidates will successfully continue, or that any positive developments in Agios' business will result in stock price appreciation. Management's expectations and, therefore, any forward-looking statements in this press release could also be affected by risks and uncertainties relating to a number of other important factors, including: Agios' results of clinical trials and preclinical studies, including subsequent analysis of existing data and new data received from ongoing and future studies; the content and timing of decisions made by the U.S. FDA and other regulatory authorities, investigational review boards at clinical trial sites and publication review bodies; Agios' ability to obtain and maintain requisite regulatory approvals and to enroll patients in its planned clinical trials; unplanned cash requirements and expenditures; competitive factors; Agios' ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for any product candidates it is developing; Agios' ability to maintain key collaborations; and general economic and market conditions. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption "Risk Factors" included in Agios’ public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Agios expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Investor & Media Contact
Holly Manning, 617-844-6630
Associate Director, Investor Relations
Holly.Manning@agios.com