4D pharma Appoints John Beck as Chief Financial Officer

4D pharma plc (AIM: DDDD), a pharmaceutical company leading the development of Live Biotherapeutic products (LBPs) - a novel class of drug derived from the microbiome, today announces the appointment of John Beck as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Company's management team, bringing over 30 years of experience in finance, including three previous positions as Chief Financial Officer of publicly traded life sciences companies.

"John will be an important addition to 4D pharma's management team at such a pivotal time, as the company prepares to close our SPAC merger and begin trading on NASDAQ. His deep experience and financial expertise as a CFO of several publicly traded life sciences companies will be critical as we further grow our company and global footprint," said Duncan Peyton, Chief Executive Officer of 4D pharma.

John Beck brings over 30 years of experience in financial and biopharmaceutical industry management experience. This includes three previous positions as Chief Financial Officer of publicly traded life sciences companies where he has achieved considerable results in areas including finance, business and corporate development, strategy, and commercialization.

"I look forward to contributing the success of 4D pharma at this exciting stage in its development. 4D's pioneering work to develop promising therapies across a number of disease areas from oncology to the gut-brain axis is clearly differentiated through its MicroRx platform and LBP product candidates," said John Beck, Chief Financial Officer of 4D pharma. "With several key data readouts upcoming and our potential listing on NASDAQ, I believe 4D is well positioned to expand and enhance its investor base and drive further shareholder value for the remainder of 2021."

Mr. Beck has extensive investor and public relations, corporate governance, regulatory, and fundraising expertise. Most recently he was the Senior Vice President, Finance and CFO of Ritter Pharmaceuticals from May 2018 to May 2020, where he oversaw its successful merger with Qualigen Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Beck served as Executive Manager and CEO at Wellspring Water Technologies, LLC and CEO of West Tech Medical, LLC from October 2015 to May 2018. Mr. Beck also was the CFO and Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations of Ardea Biosciences from February 2008 to June 2012, where he raised over $160 million in public financings, executed a $400 million out-licensing transaction with Bayer Pharmaceuticals and completed a $1.2 billion merger with AstraZeneca. Mr. Beck also held positions as Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer and CFO of Metabasis Therapeutics, and the Director of Finance at Neurocrine Biosciences, leading both through successful NASDAQ IPOs.

In addition, Mr. Beck currently serves on the Board of Directors of San Diego-based Artelo Biosciences, as a scientific advisor and mentor to the University of San Diego's student-run TRITON fund. Mr. Beck holds a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Washington, Seattle, a degree in theology from a Seattle area seminary and is a licensed CPA (inactive status) in the state of California.

About 4D pharma

Founded in February 2014, 4D pharma is a world leader in the development of Live Biotherapeutics, a novel and emerging class of drugs, defined by the FDA as biological products that contain a live organism, such as a bacterium, that is applicable to the prevention, treatment or cure of a disease.  4D has developed a proprietary platform, MicroRx®, that rationally identifies Live Biotherapeutics based on a deep understanding of function and mechanism.

4D pharma's Live Biotherapeutic products (LBPs) are orally delivered single strains of bacteria that are naturally found in the healthy human gut. The Company has six clinical programs, namely a Phase I/II study of MRx0518 in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in solid tumors, a Phase I study of MRx0518 in a neoadjuvant setting for patients with solid tumors, a Phase I study of MRx0518 in patients with pancreatic cancer, a Phase I/II study of MRx-4DP0004 in asthma (NCT03851250), a Phase II study of MRx-4DP0004 in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (NCT04363372), and Blautix® in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) (NCT03721107) which has completed a successful Phase II trial. Preclinical-stage programs include candidates for CNS disease such as Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. The Company has a research collaboration with MSD, a tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA, to discover and develop Live Biotherapeutics for vaccines.

In October 2020 4D pharma announced its intention to merge with Longevity Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: LOAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and seek a NASDAQ listing. The merger is expected to be completed and the NASDAQ listing of 4D pharma American Depositary Shares (ADSs) under the ticker symbol 'LBPS' is currently expected to become effective in early 2021, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions, including approval of 4D shareholders and Longevity shareholders and the approval by Nasdaq of the listing of ADSs.

For more information, refer to www.4dpharmaplc.com