Life sciences veteran’s experience leading R&D organizations and bringing more than 25 products to market will support Volastra’s growing pipeline of treatments targeting chromosomally unstable cancers
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Volastra Therapeutics, a clinical-stage cancer biotechnology company, today announced the appointment of David Nicholson, Ph.D., as an independent member of its Board of Directors.
“Dr. Nicholson joins our board as the company is moving expeditiously through the clinic with two novel, differentiated oral KIF18A inhibitors, as well as a pipeline of synthetic lethal and immune-activating assets,” said Sandi Peterson, Chair of the Board. “David’s unrivalled experience in all stages of the discovery, development, regulation and commercialization of new drugs will be invaluable to the company as we apply our CIN-directed technologies to help patients with cancer.”
Dr. Nicholson added, “The science and associated expertise at Volastra are truly exciting and present significant opportunities to develop promising new treatments that target vulnerabilities in intractable solid tumor cancers. I look forward to leveraging my experience to support the board and team in accelerating the development of these treatments.”
Dr. Nicholson has more than 40 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry across research and development. His leadership has helped bring more than 25 new drug products to patients, including the discovery and development of the game-changing PD-1 therapy, pembrolizumab, for patients with cancer.
Dr. Nicholson most recently served as EVP and Global Head of Research and Development at Allergan Pharmaceuticals. He previously held senior leadership roles at Bayer, Merck, Schering-Plough and Organon. Dr. Nicholson currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Exscientia, a world-leading artificial intelligence company focused on immunology, immuno-oncology and oncology. He holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Wales.
About Volastra Therapeutics, Inc.
Volastra Therapeutics is a New York-based clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering novel approaches to treating cancer by targeting a tumor vulnerability known as chromosomal instability. The company was founded in 2019 by Lewis Cantley, Ph.D., Samuel Bakhoum, M.D., Ph.D., and Olivier Elemento, Ph.D., and is funded by Polaris Partners, Arch Ventures, Droia Ventures, Vida Ventures, Catalio Capital Management, and Eli Lilly & Company. Volastra is developing new techniques to understand the biology of chromosomal instability and leveraging these insights to drive a pipeline of therapies towards innovative targets. The company leads the field with two differentiated clinical-stage KIF18A inhibitors, VLS-1488 and sovilnesib (AMG-650). A robust discovery pipeline targeting both synthetic lethal and immune activation approaches to chromosomal instability, progresses internally and in collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb. A transformational imaging partnership with Microsoft supports AI-driven target discovery and identification of novel biomarkers to inform patient selection.
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