On April 27, 2020 Xilio Therapeutics, a company developing potent, tumor-selective immuno-oncology (IO) therapies for patients with cancer, reported that Martin H. Huber, M.D. has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer (Press release, Xilio Therapeutics, APR 27, 2020, View Source [SID1234556638]). In this role, Dr. Huber will oversee all aspects of the Company’s clinical development strategy and operations and lead Xilio’s first two therapeutic candidates, XTX201 (tumor-selective IL-2) and XTX101 (tumor-selective aCTLA4 mAb) into clinical development in 2021, while advancing Xilio’s tumor-selective IL-12 and IL-15 cytokine pipeline programs.

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"Dr. Huber has had a long and distinguished career in immuno-oncology drug development, and he has successfully led multiple cancer immunotherapy programs, from early clinical stage through commercialization," said Rene Russo, Chief Executive Officer of Xilio. "His leadership will accelerate our broad pipeline of potent, tumor-selective IO therapies into clinical development and complement the outstanding team that has been assembled at Xilio."

Dr. Huber has over 20 years of academic, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical drug development experience, most recently serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Tesaro, Inc. before its acquisition by GSK. While at Tesaro, he drove the expansion of the niraparib program and advanced the company’s immuno-oncology agents into the clinic. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Oncology Clinical Research at Merck Research Laboratories where he was instrumental in the advancement of Merck’s oncology programs, serving as program lead for pembrolizumab in non-small cell lung cancer. Prior to Merck, he served in roles of increasing responsibility at Schering-Plough, Hoffmann-La Roche and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, where he led teams in the areas of oncology clinical development, drug safety and pharmacovigilance. He previously served as an Assistant Professor of Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Huber holds an M.D. from the Baylor College of Medicine.

"I am thrilled to join a deeply experienced oncology drug development team at Xilio and help realize its important mission of transforming cancer treatments by unleashing the full power of highly potent immuno therapies precisely in tumors," said Dr. Huber. "I believe in the potential of Xilio’s tumor-selective technology to revolutionize the efficacy of IO therapies for a broad range of patients living with cancer."

Xilio Therapeutics is developing its proprietary technology to create a new class of ultra-potent IO therapies that are activated selectively within the tumor. These tumor-selective therapies are designed to overcome the significant toxicities associated with clinically validated IO therapies, such as IL-2 and aCTLA4, which have historically limited the number of patients that can be treated and prevented patients from completing full courses of treatment. XTX201 (IL-2) and XTX101 (aCTLA4 mAb) have demonstrated tumor-selective activity in preclinical models, significantly widening the potential therapeutic index for these therapies.