On August 2, 2021 Arch Oncology, Inc., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on the discovery and development of anti-CD47 biologic therapies, reported several key leadership appointments in newly created positions, including Louie Naumovski, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer, Amit Agarwal M.D., Ph.D., as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, and Steve DeMattos as Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations (Press release, Arch Oncology, AUG 2, 2021, View Source [SID1234586001]).
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"We are delighted to welcome Louie, Amit and Steve to Arch. With their appointments, we continue to build a world-class team to support our pipeline of biologic programs for the treatment of cancer, and further position the Company as a leader in the CD47 space," said Laurence Blumberg, M.D.,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Arch Oncology. "Their unique combination of oncology expertise in solid and hematologic malignancies across early and later stages of development, as well as their research experience and demonstrated excellence in clinical operations, make these hires a tremendous asset for Arch. We plan to continue to expand the clinical program of our differentiated anti-CD47 product candidate AO-176, beyond our current Phase 1/2 clinical trials for solid tumors, both as a monotherapy and in combination with paclitaxel or pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA), and multiple myeloma as a monotherapy and with standard therapies."
Louie Naumovski, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Naumovski, M.D., Ph.D., joined Arch Oncology with over 30 years of experience as a physician-scientist and senior leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, with an extensive track record in early clinical development of novel oncology drugs, including antibodies, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), novel biologics and small molecules. Most recently, Dr. Naumovski served as Group Medical Director of Oncology Early Development and as a Volwiler Clinical Research Fellow at AbbVie, where he was responsible for leading cross-functional teams to develop the strategy, design and implementation of IND filings and exploratory and randomized Phase I/II clinical trials of ADCs and other biologics in the Oncology/Immunology spaces. Prior to his role at AbbVie, Dr. Naumovski was a Project Team Leader and an Associate Medical Director of Exploratory Clinical Development at Genentech BioOncology, where he similarly guided the strategic direction of cross-functional early drug development teams through IND filing and exploratory and randomized Phase I/II clinical trials. Previously, he was Director of Cancer Biology at Pharmacyclics, where he directed in-house preclinical research and planned Phase I and II studies with motexafin gadolinium in lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and solid tumor indications. Earlier in his career, Dr. Naumovski served as an assistant professor of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology/BMT at Stanford University School of Medicine
and as attending physician at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford after completing a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stanford. He holds an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from Stanford University and a B.A. in Microbiology from University of California-Los Angeles.
"I’m pleased to join Arch at this exciting time for the company and look forward to working with the team to translate the promise of Arch’s differentiated approach to the development of anti-CD47 agents into much-needed medicines for patients suffering from cancer," said Dr. Naumovski. "I believe AO-176’s unique combination of features among anti-CD47 antibody therapies, including lower binding to normal cells and negligible binding to red blood cells, enhanced binding to CD47 in acidic environments found in tumors, and induction of programmed and immunogenic cell death make it a promising novel therapeutic in the immuno-oncology space."
Amit Agarwal M.D., Ph.D., as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development
Dr. Agarwal M.D., Ph.D., joins Arch Oncology from Bristol-Myers Squibb where he served as Multiple Myeloma Global Disease Lead and managed their CAR T portfolio and pipeline of CelMods. He was responsible for guiding the development strategy for the MM portfolio. Previously, Dr. Agarwal was Myeloma Disease Lead, USMA at Celgene and led multiple launches. Dr. Agarwal is a board-certified hematologist and oncologist and extensive clinical development experience. Earlier in his career, he was an assistant professor at The University of Arizona where he provided care for patients with hematological malignancies and served as principal investigator for phase 1-3 interventional trials for patients with multiple myeloma. He holds a Ph.D. in Human/Medical Genetics from Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.B.B.S. in Medicine from University of Pune.
"I am excited to join the Company to support the next phase of pipeline development as we expand the AO-176 clinical program to include additional solid tumor indications and combinations, and other hematological malignancies beyond multiple myeloma," said Dr. Agarwal.
Steve DeMattos as Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations
Mr. DeMattos has over 30 years of broad development expertise and clinical operations experience, from preclinical discovery through registration, in both small and large biotech and pharmaceutical companies alike. He joins Arch Oncology from Xencor, where he served as Vice President, Clinical Operations. Prior to Xencor, Executive Director of Oncology Program Management at Geron. Previously, he held senior project management roles at PDL Biopharma and Allergan and leadership roles in Clinical Program Management at Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, Ilex Oncology, and Monsanto-Searle. At his various roles, Mr. DeMattos developed strategy and solutions to complex global clinical operations issues ranging from clinical site feasibility to regulatory compliance and was involved in filing over 75 completed major regulatory filings and approvals, including an NDA for Celebrex and BLA’s for Enbrel. Mr. DeMattos holds a B.S. in Microbiology and Biochemistry from University of Michigan.
"I am thrilled to join the Arch team and look forward to executing on the clinical development plan to advance AO-176 in multiple indications both in solid and hematologic tumors," said Mr. DeMattos.