Presage Biosciences Appoints David Johnson To Board Of Directors
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Presage Biosciences, an oncology company that is developing a novel drug development platform to assess drugs and combinations directly in patient tumors, announced today the appointment of David Johnson to its board of directors. Johnson has more than two decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry spanning operations, management, financing and therapeutics discovery and development.
“David is an essential new addition to our Board of Directors at this important time in our clinical progress”
“David is an essential new addition to our Board of Directors at this important time in our clinical progress,” said Nathan Caffo, President of Presage. “David is a proven leader, deeply-rooted in oncology with a long track record as a successful collaborator with a broad global network of investigators, and his insight and expertise will be invaluable as we evaluate and advance voruciclib.”
Presage is developing voruciclib, a clinical-stage oral CDK inhibitor, in combination with other agents identified through CIVO, an in vivo assessment technology intended for drug development to enable the first side-by-side comparison of multiple drugs and combinations within a single living tumor while still in a patient’s body, without exposing the patient to the toxicity associated with systemically dosed drugs.
"Presage has a promising drug candidate, a powerful platform and a forward-thinking management team," said Johnson. "I look forward to advising on clinical development and possible future commercialization of voruciclib and additional compounds identified with CIVO in my role as board member."
David Johnson brings more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. His most recent executive position was with Acerta Pharma, an oncology-focused pharmaceutical company, where he was CEO and led the company through a critical phase of growth from approximately 40 to 150+ employees and from signal seeking first-in-human trials to more than 20 active clinical studies. His tenure included the launch of 2 global Phase 3 trials and culminated in the execution of a strategic transaction with AstraZeneca valued at up to $7 billion. Johnson’s prior experience spans from pre-clinical to all phases of clinical development. He has made meaningful contributions to drugs ultimately garnering NDA/SNDA approval including idelalisib, romidepsin, and bortezomib. He has held roles with increasing responsibilities within Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Pipeline Development, and Commercial at companies including Calistoga (acquired by Gilead), Gloucester (acquired by Celgene), Favrille, Millennium, Immunex (acquired by Amgen), and Hoffman La Roche. He is a co-author on numerous publications including three NEJM publications. Johnson is a graduate of Indiana University.
About Voruciclib
Voruciclib is a clinical-stage, oral cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor in clinical development for multiple cancer indications. The molecule potently inhibits CDK9, a key target for transcriptional regulation, as well as CDK4 and 6. The tolerability profile of the agent has been established in two phase 1 monotherapy trials. Using its CIVO platform, Presage has been able to rapidly identify and understand the biology of voruciclib combinations that hold potential for further clinical development in both hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
About Presage Biosciences
Presage Biosciences is an oncology company pioneering a new drug development approach to assess novel drug combinations directly in patient tumors with its patented CIVO™ arrayed microinjection platform. The CIVO platform is a drug development tool intended to simultaneously assess responses multiple drugs or drug combinations directly in a single solid tumor while still in a patient’s body. Presage is using CIVO™ to develop a portfolio of promising oncology therapies to advance to the clinic, including voruciclib. Presage also partners with oncology-focused pharmaceutical companies through strategic alliances to provide data to discover effective drug combinations. Presage is privately held and based in Seattle. For more information, visit www.presagebio.com.