CHICAGO & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Exicure, Inc. (OTCQB: XCUR), a pioneer in gene regulatory and immunotherapeutic drugs utilizing spherical nucleic acid constructs, today announced its appointment of Jeffrey L. Cleland, Ph.D. and Timothy P. Walbert to its Board of Directors.

“We are excited to welcome two high caliber leaders like Jeff and Tim to our Board of Directors,” said David Giljohann, Ph.D., CEO of Exicure. “Their insights and experience will greatly benefit our strategic priorities and growth for 2019 and 2020, as we advance our ongoing clinical programs and expand into new therapeutic areas.”

Cleland, co-founder and executive chairman of Orpheris, has founded start-ups and built businesses. Cleland received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of California Davis. He has more than 20 years of industry experience in drug development from discovery stage to approval for small molecules, peptides and proteins.

Walbert, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Horizon Therapeutics, has led Horizon from venture investment to a public company with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Before joining Horizon, Walbert was president, chief executive officer and director of IDM Pharma, a public biopharmaceutical company that was acquired by Takeda America Holdings, Inc. in 2009. He received his B.A. in Business from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. He is the chairman of Zyla Life Sciences and serves on the board of directors of the Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization (iBIO), the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), World Business Chicago (WBC), and the Greater Chicago Arthritis Foundation. He is a member of the National Organization of Rare Disease (NORD) advisory board, chairman of MATTER Chicago, a healthcare incubator, and serves on the board of trustees of Muhlenberg College.

“I look forward to joining Exicure’s board to help guide the company and its exciting technology in the gene regulatory and immuno-oncology fields,” said Cleland.

“Exicure has successfully advanced an exciting technology, and I look forward to playing an active role in the further development of its pipeline and business operations,” said Walbert.

About Exicure, Inc.

Exicure, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapeutics for immuno-oncology, inflammatory diseases and genetic disorders based on our proprietary Spherical Nucleic Acid, or SNA technology. We believe Exicure's proprietary SNA architecture has distinct chemical and biological properties that may provide advantages over other nucleic acid therapeutics and may have therapeutic potential to target diseases not typically addressed with other nucleic acid therapeutics. Exicure's lead program is in a Phase 1b/2 trial in patients with advanced solid tumors. Exicure is based outside of Chicago, IL and in Cambridge, MA. www.exicuretx.com