PsiOxus Therapeutics Appoints Howard Davis, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer

2022-08-11

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Aug. 11, 2022 12:00 UTC Dr. Davis brings more than 20 years of industry experience to lead the advancement of the company’s clinical stage pipeline of T-SIGn® immuno-oncology therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumors New CEO will establish U.S. operations in the Boston area to accelerate the company’s mission to positively impact the lives of people living with cancer OXFORD, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PsiOxus Therapeutics Limited (PsiOxus), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a novel platform technology for the targeted delivery of therapeutic transgenes to solid tumors, today announces the appointment of Howard Davis, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Davis will be based in the greater Boston metropolitan area where he will establish the company’s U.S. operations. He succeeds interim CEO Priya Mande who will continue to serve the company in the new role of Chief Operating Officer and U.K. President. “Howard joins us at a critical stage for PsiOxus, as we rapidly progress our NG-350A and NG-641 immuno-oncology programs through early clinical studies and leverage our novel T-SIGn® platform to further expand our pipeline,” said Duncan Higgons, Chairman of the Board of PsiOxus. “We believe Howard’s exceptional leadership skills combined with his extensive experience across all phases of the product development lifecycle will help PsiOxus realize the full promise of its platform.” “PsiOxus has developed a groundbreaking platform in the T-SIGn® viral vector system and the company’s pipeline has the potential to truly revolutionize the treatment of solid tumors,” said Dr. Davis. “With the team’s rapid advancement of the NG-350A and NG-641 programs into the clinic, we anticipate a significant flow of clinical data in the coming quarters. I am thrilled to join the PsiOxus team at this exciting juncture and look forward to leading the company into its next chapter as we seek to deliver on our mission to positively impact the lives of people living with cancer.” Dr. Davis brings more than 20 years of experience to PsiOxus having served in diverse roles across VC-backed biotech and large pharma companies spanning a broad range of therapeutic areas including neuroscience, ophthalmology, immunology, and rare diseases. Most recently, Dr. Davis worked with Atlas Venture on the launch of Third Harmonic Bio, a clinical stage immunology company where he served as COO with responsibility for business development, new product planning, finance, HR, legal / IP, and IT. During his tenure, he spearheaded fundraising efforts that secured $155 million in private financing to support the company’s advancement of its lead clinical stage molecule. Earlier in his career, Dr. Davis served as a Principal at Flagship Pioneering where he focused on expanding the firm’s portfolio of corporate strategic partnerships while also supporting new company creation efforts. Prior to Flagship, Dr. Davis held roles of increasing responsibility at Biogen and Novartis across a range of functional areas including commercial, manufacturing, pipeline program leadership and corporate strategy. He began his industry career at Boston Consulting Group where he advised both large pharma and biotech clients. Dr. Davis holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Yale University and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the Harvard University / Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences & Technology. “Howard is uniquely positioned to lead PsiOxus through its next phase of growth as we establish our U.S. presence to support preparations for late-stage clinical development, expanded partnerships, and U.S.-focused financing activities. I would like to thank Priya Mande for her leadership of the company during the CEO search process, and we look forward to her continued valuable contributions as COO and U.K. President,” said Mr. Higgons. About PsiOxus PsiOxus is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering novel systemic immuno-oncology therapeutics capable of sustainably reprogramming the solid tumor microenvironment to overcome the central challenge of resistance to therapy. The company’s clinically validated T-SIGn® viral vector platform can deliver multiple transgene payloads capable of reprogramming both primary and metastatic solid tumors. PsiOxus has a rapidly expanding and advancing pipeline of novel T-SIGn® monotherapy and combination products that have demonstrated consistent safety profiles and preliminary evidence of efficacy based on biomarker data and other clinical surrogates. For more information, please visit . About T-SIGn® Tumor-Specific Immuno-Gene (T-SIGn®) therapy is a novel clinical stage, systemically dosed treatment modality designed to selectively deliver multi-gene payloads of immunotherapeutic proteins to solid tumors to trigger the immune system to fight cancer. The platform leverages enadenotucirev, a chimeric group B adenovirus, as a viral vector system for the delivery of therapeutic transgenes to cancer cells. The T-SIGn® viral vector platform has been clinically validated for its ability to selectively express therapeutic transgenes in targeted solid tumor tissue following intravenous dosing of a T-SIGn® therapeutic. The PsiOxus T-SIGn® programs currently in the clinic include NG-350A (producing an immune activating antibody) and NG-641 (producing a bispecific antibody targeting the tumor stroma together with additional immunomodulatory transgenes). These programs both aim to reprogram the solid tumor microenvironment to promote anti-tumor immunity. In addition, PsiOxus is progressing NG-796A (an immune cell attracting and activating therapy) which is currently in IND-enabling studies and was developed through an ongoing collaboration with the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Cancer Immunotherapy. PsiOxus also has a number of earlier stage T-SIGn® preclinical programs.