NEWS
Press Release
NeoImmuneTech Appoints Dr. Samuel Zhang as Chief Business Officer
2019-06-04
—
ROCKVILLE, Md. – June 3, 2019 – NeoImmuneTech,
Inc., a T
cell-focused immunotherapeutics company,
today announced the appointment of Samuel Zhang, Ph.D., M.B.A, as Chief Business
Officer (CBO). Dr. Zhang brings to NeoImmuneTech deep immuno-oncology
expertise and strategic leadership with over 20 years of drug development
experience. In this position, Dr. Zhang will lead the effort to fully realize
the potential of the company’s lead drug candidate, Hyleukin-7™,
as well as other drug development programs, through establishing strategic
relationships and building integrated product strategies.
▲ Samuel Zhang,
Ph.D., M.B.A, Chief Business Officer
“Dr.
Zhang’s expertise and experience in integrating market
insight with scientific evaluation and clinical differentiation, particularly in the area of immuno-oncology, will help NeoImmuneTech
advance and accelerate the development of Hyleukin-7,” said Se Hwan Yang,
Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of NeoImmuneTech. “His knowledge and
understanding of the immuno-oncology field will be crucial for NeoImmuneTech as
we take the next steps to become a leader in this space.”
“Hyleukin-7
is a unique immuno-oncology agent that boosts T cells both in number and functionality,
and was shown to increase the absolute lymphocyte counts in patients’
peripheral blood, a key predictor of the checkpoint inhibitor efficacy. In
preclinical tumor models, Hyleukin-7 substantially increased tumor infiltrating
lymphocytes which are crucial to
conversion of an immune-cold tumor microenvironment
into an immune inflamed one. It has also demonstrated a number of features
critical for a promising drug candidate and is well positioned to address key
unmet medical needs in immuno-oncology,” said Dr.
Zhang. “I am excited to be joining NeoImmuneTech at this pivotal time in its
development and look forward to helping further expand the immuno-oncology
frontier with Hyleukin-7.”
Dr.
Zhang comes to NeoImmuneTech from Merus, where he was Vice President, Product
and Portfolio Strategy and provided strategic leadership to help guide key
portfolio decisions in research, clinical development, and strategic alliance.
Prior to that, he had held positions of increasing responsibility at Eli Lilly
and Company, Pfizer, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb and Novartis Oncology, covering
the entire life cycle of pharmaceutics from research project initiation to loss
of exclusivity (LOE). Dr. Zhang holds an M.B.A from The Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA as well as a Ph.D. in molecular
biology from Columbia University, New York, NY, and a B.Sc. in Biological
Sciences from Peking University, Beijing, China.
About
Hyleukin-7™
Hyleukin-7™ (rhIL-7-hyFc, NT-I7), an immuno-oncology agent, is a T cell
growth factor composed of a covalently linked homodimer of engineered
Interleukin-7 (IL-7) molecule, biologically fused with the proprietary
long-acting platform - hyFc™. IL-7 is known to be a critical factor for T cells
homeostasis, acting to increase both the number and functionality of T cells. Hyleukin-7
amplifies and reinvigorates persistent T cell immunity in the treatment of
patients with cancer and lymphopenia, thus providing unique opportunities for
immuno-oncology (IO) combination strategies. Hyleukin-7 is being developed as
an “IO enabling” therapy to harness T cell immunity in combination with current
cancer treatments such as anti-PD-(L)1 agents or chemo/radiotherapy as well as
next generation IO therapeutics.
About NeoImmuneTech
NeoImmuneTech (NIT) is developing T cell-focused immunotherapeutics designed to prime, enhance and extend the activity of current and future therapies in cancer and infectious diseases. Our lead product, Hyleukin-7™, a T cell growth factor, has the potential to amplify and prolong anti-tumor activity, which is pivotal to extending survival of cancer patients. Hyleukin-7 is being studied in multiple clinical trials in solid tumors, and being planned for testing in hematologic malignancies, additional solid tumors and other immunology-focused indications. www.neoimmunetech.com
NIT is a U.S.-based company developing Hyleukin-7 for the U.S. and European markets in collaboration with Korean-based Genexine.
Media contact
MacDougall
Shai Biran, Ph.D.
Direct: +1 781 235 3060