On January 23, 2020 Kura Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: KURA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, reported that Antonio Gualberto, M.D., Ph.D., will step down as Head of Development and Chief Medical Officer to pursue other opportunities (Press release, Kura Oncology, JAN 23, 2020, View Source [SID1234553461]). Bridget Martell, M.A., M.D., currently Vice President of Clinical Development at Kura, has been named acting Chief Medical Officer while the company completes an executive search. Dr. Gualberto plans to serve in an advisory capacity during the transition, which will take effect on February 7, 2020.
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"Antonio has been a key contributor to the tipifarnib development program over the past five years," said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Oncology. "He is responsible for much of the underlying translational work that identified the biomarkers of activity, including the discovery of the CXCL12 pathway as a target of tipifarnib, which enabled us to achieve clinical proof of concept in multiple solid tumor and hematologic indications and provided the framework for our ongoing registrational strategies. We thank him for his many contributions to the company and wish him continued success in his future endeavors.
"Now, as we continue our pre-commercial efforts and prepare for the company’s next phase of growth," Dr. Wilson continued, "we are very fortunate to have someone of Bridget’s caliber ready to step up and lead the clinical development organization. Bridget is a proven leader with broad expertise in drug development and a track record of success. Importantly, she has deep familiarity across our pipeline, having served as program lead for KO-539, our emerging menin-MLL inhibitor, for the past two years. I look forward to working even more closely with her in the months ahead as we seek to build on the potential opportunities for tipifarnib and maximize the value of our emerging pipeline."
Dr. Martell began working with Kura as a consultant in November 2017 and joined the company as Vice President of Clinical Development in June 2018, bringing more than 18 years of experience in clinical development, regulatory and medical affairs. She has served in leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer and Juniper Pharmaceuticals, where she contributed to the development and approval of a number of products, including the renal adjuvant indication for the oncology drug Sutent. Dr. Martell earned her B.S. in microbiology from Cornell University, her M.A. in molecular immunology from Boston University and her M.D. from the Chicago Medical School. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine and was an Internal Medicine chief resident and RWJ Faculty Clinical Scholar at Yale University. She is board certified in both internal and addiction medicine.