Former MedImmune Oncology Head Joins Molecular Response as CEO

September 15, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

SAN DIEGO – Privately-held Molecular Response, LLC, tapped Brett M. Hall, MedImmune ’s former head of oncology, as its new chief executive officer, the company announced this morning.

Molecular Response is in the middle of transitioning to a new mission. Hall was tapped to spearhead the repositioning of Molecular Response into a drug development company that has a primary focus of identifying and developing “novel agents that disrupt tumor cell interactions with permissive host tumor micro-environments,” the company said. Masood Tayebi, chairman of Molecular Response’s board of directors, touted Hall’s experience at MedImmune, the biologics research and development arm of London-based AstraZeneca PLC , as one of the chief reasons for tapping him to helm the company during the transition.

“His expertise in translational medicine, oncology drug development and advanced tumor microenvironment modeling will be invaluable for the next chapter of Molecular Response. During his tenures at MedImmune and Janssen, he expanded and led dynamic translational teams that focused on biomarker discovery and development, market segmentation and companion diagnostics,” Tayebi said in a statement. “Dr. Hall brings extensive working knowledge in translational medicine and a scientific background that will support our research and drug development efforts. His broad drug development experience will be a great asset as we reposition Molecular Response into a drug development company."

During Hall’s career in the pharmaceutical industry, he has overseen the translational development for over 20 oncology drug programs ranging from late discovery through early and late clinical development, Tayebi said.

While at Janssen, Johnson & Johnson ’s subsidiary, Hall guided the development of Sylvant (siltuximab), which treats Multicentric Castelman’s Disease, which can increase your risk of certain cancers by changing the way your immune system works, through regulatory approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Additionally, Hall also guided the anticancer drug targeting B-cell malignancies Imbruvica (ibrutinib) through FDA approval.

Hall praised the work done by Molecular Response for developing one of the world's largest living human tumor biobanks, which he called “an impressive foundation of patient-derived tumor models that more accurately reflect the biology of human cancer.”

“When combined with patient-matched molecular and pharmacology data, we will be in a strong position to create an extraordinary drug portfolio using patient aligned, computationally guided models. I applaud the work and efforts of those who established the core tumor modeling platforms here at Molecular Response,” Hall said in a statement. “Dedicated drug development guided by humanized tumor models has been a dream of mine for well over a decade, and I am appreciative to the board members who have placed confidence in my ability to lead novel drug development efforts here at Molecular Response Therapeutics.”

Hall worked at MedImmune from July 2014 to the beginning of this month when he was hired by Molecular Response. Prior to his role at AstraZeneca, Hall spent five years at Johnson & Johnson as the scientific director of oncology biomarkers. Before Johnson & Johnson, Hall spent four years at Nationwide Children’s Hospital conducting pediatric cancer research and helming its small animal imaging facility.

In addition to his time at AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, Hall also served as a former investment banker, something that will surely help the company when they seek financial backing. He earned his PhD from West Virginia University, studying how the tumor microenvironment affects tumor growth, metastasis and survival.

Molecular Response’s website is currently down, with a message that it will re-launch soon as the company is “transitioning into a new mission.”