PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kodiak Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: KOD), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in novel therapeutics to treat chronic, high-prevalence retinal diseases, today announced the appointment of Taiyin Yang, Ph.D., to its board of directors. Currently, Dr. Yang serves as Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing at Gilead Sciences, Inc.

"Dr. Yang joins our board in a growth phase for Kodiak as we pursue our 2022 Vision for KSI-301 in retinal vein occlusion, wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema and diabetic retinopathy and our anticipated Biologics License Application (BLA) and supplemental BLA submissions," said Victor Perlroth, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Kodiak Sciences. "Dr. Yang's deep experience with product development, commercial manufacturing and quality operations will be instrumental as we advance KSI-301 and our deepening pipeline of bi-specific and triplet ABC product candidates."

Dr. Yang joined Gilead in 1993 and was appointed to her current role of Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing in January 2015. She is responsible for chemistry, manufacturing and control operations of small molecules and biologics encompassing process development, production, supply chain management, analytical operations, laboratory information and quality assurance for Gilead's investigational and commercial products. She received her bachelor's degree in Chemistry from National Taiwan University and her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Southern California.

"Kodiak has made important pipeline progress, and I am delighted to join the board of directors during this important expansion phase for the company," said Dr. Yang. "I look forward to working with the Kodiak team and contributing to Kodiak's future growth and success as the company executes pivotal development activities with the potential to change patients' lives."

About Kodiak Sciences Inc.

Kodiak™ is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in novel therapeutics to treat chronic, high-prevalence retinal diseases. We are focused on bringing new science to the design and manufacture of next generation retinal medicines to prevent and treat the leading causes of blindness globally. Our ABC Platform™ merges the fields of antibody-based and chemistry-based therapies and is at the core of Kodiak's discovery engine. Kodiak's lead product candidate, KSI-301, is a novel anti-VEGF antibody biopolymer conjugate being developed for the treatment of retinal vascular diseases including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic eye diseases. Kodiak has leveraged its ABC Platform to build a pipeline of product candidates in various stages of development including KSI-501, our bispecific anti-IL-6/VEGF biopolymer conjugate for the treatment of neovascular retinal diseases with an inflammatory component, and we are expanding our early research pipeline to include ABC Platform based triplet inhibitors for multifactorial retinal diseases such as dry AMD and the neurodegenerative aspects of glaucoma. Kodiak is based in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, visit www.kodiak.com.

"Kodiak," "ABC Platform" and the Kodiak logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Kodiak Sciences Inc. in various jurisdictions.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kodiak-sciences-appoints-taiyin-yang-phd-to-board-of-directors-300977930.html

SOURCE Kodiak Sciences Inc.