27 February 2019 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Aveo Oncology (NASDAQ: AVEO) has appointed Gregory T. Mayes to its board of directors, the company said.

Mayes brings to the Aveo Board over 20 years of experience as a biopharmaceutical executive with deep expertise in business strategy and the commercialisation of life sciences products.

The company also said that John H. Johnson has stepped down from the Aveo board in conjunction with his acceptance of a chief executive officer position outside the company.

Johnson will remain an advisor to Aveo.

Mayes is the president, chief executive officer and founder of Engage Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing Staccato alprazolam, a hand-held drug-device combination product designed to abort an active epileptic seizure when a predictable seizure pattern emerges.

Prior to Engage Therapeutics, Mayes served as chief operating officer of Advaxis Immunotherapies, and a member of its board of directors.

While at Advaxis, Mayes was instrumental in establishing major pharma partnerships and developing a Phase 3 registration strategy and clinical development plan for Advaxis's lead product candidate, which resulted in an FDA Special Protocol Assessment and Fast Track Designation.

Prior to Advaxis, Mayes served as the president and General Counsel and Board member for Unigene Laboratories where he led out-licensing efforts for a novel oral peptide drug delivery platform.

Mayes also served as vice president, general counsel, and chief compliance officer at ImClone Systems, where he contributed significantly to the clinical development and commercialisation of Erbitux (cetuximab), and the USD 6.5bn-dollar sale of ImClone Systems to Eli Lilly in 2008.

Mayes also served as Senior Counsel at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, where he provided a wide range of legal services in connection with the development and commercialization of five approved products in AstraZeneca's oncology portfolio.

Mayes is a cum laude graduate of Syracuse University where he was recognized as a Remembrance Scholar, and he earned his J.D. degree magna cum laude from Temple University School of Law, where he was the Articles Editor on the Temple Law Review.

Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing a broad portfolio of targeted medicines for oncology and other areas of unmet medical need.

The company's strategy is to retain North American rights to its oncology portfolio while securing partners in development and commercialisation outside of North America.

The company is seeking to develop and commercialize its lead candidate tivozanib in North America as a treatment for advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

The company has outlicensed tivozanib (Fotivda) for oncological indications in Europe and other territories outside of North America.

Tivozanib is approved in the European Union, as well as Norway and Iceland, for the first-line treatment of adult patients with RCC and for adult patients who are vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and mTOR pathway inhibitor-naïve following disease progression after one prior treatment with cytokine therapy for RCC.

In addition, a new formulation of tivozanib is being explored in ocular conditions.

The company has entered into partnerships for the development and commercialization of AV-203 (CAN017) and ficlatuzumab, both clinical stage assets in oncology. The company is evaluating options to develop the AV-353 platform, a preclinical asset.

The company has recently regained the rights to its AV-380 program for the potential treatment of cachexia and is planning toxicology studies to support the filing of an investigational new drug application and advance the program's development.