8 November 2018 - - US-based biotechnology company Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FPRX) has hired industry veteran David V. Smith as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective 26 November, the company said.

As CFO, Smith will report directly to chief executive officer Aron Knickerbocker and be a member of the executive team.

He will be responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the company, including accounting and financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, financial operations and tax and treasury, as well as investor relations and procurement.

Smith brings more than 20 years of experience serving as an executive officer overseeing financial planning and reporting, operations management, investor relations and strategy at multiple companies in the biotechnology industry.

He most recently served as chief operating officer of IntegenX, Inc. until its acquisition earlier this year by Thermo Fisher Scientific.

He previously served as chief financial officer at each of Thoratec Corp., Chiron Corp., and Anergen, Inc., and in various accounting and financial leadership roles at Genentech, Inc.

Five Prime Therapeutics discovers and develops innovative therapeutics to improve the lives of patients with serious diseases.

The company's discovery platform, which encompasses virtually every medically relevant extracellular protein, positions it to explore pathways in cancer, inflammation and their intersection in immuno-oncology, an area with significant therapeutic potential and the focus of the company's R and D activities.

Five Prime has entered into strategic collaborations with leading global pharmaceutical companies and has promising product candidates in clinical and preclinical development.