Erasca Strengthens Clinical and Commercial Leadership with Three Key Appointments
Shannon Morris, M.D., Ph.D., appointed as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development
Amy Grekowicz Parker appointed as Vice President of Clinical Operations
John Lo, Ph.D., appointed as Senior Commercial Advisor and member of Erasca’s newly expanded Research, Development, and Commercial Advisory Board
SAN DIEGO, May 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erasca, Inc. (Nasdaq: ERAS), a clinical-stage precision oncology company singularly focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing therapies for patients with RAS/MAPK pathway-driven cancers, today announced the appointments of Shannon Morris as senior vice president of clinical development, Amy Grekowicz Parker as vice president of clinical operations, and John Lo as senior commercial advisor and member of Erasca’s research, development, and commercial advisory board (RDCAB).
“As our pipeline advances and we further grow and develop as a company, we are thrilled to welcome three such impactful leaders to the Erasca team with expertise in clinical development, clinical operations, and commercialization,” said Jonathan E. Lim, M.D., Erasca’s chairman, CEO, and co-founder. “As a seasoned clinical development leader, Shannon brings strong clinical and pharmaceutical experience to complement the growing needs of our robust clinical development plan spanning multiple indications. We are also excited to leverage Amy’s broad clinical operations experience to support our ongoing and upcoming clinical trials. Lastly, John’s strategic guidance will be invaluable as we prepare for the commercialization of our pipeline. He will be joining our R&D advisory board, which has been expanded to include a commercialization focus in order to cover the full continuum of activities we intend to pursue at Erasca. We look forward to working with these exceptional leaders in their respective areas as we further our efforts developing therapies that address RAS/MAPK pathway-driven cancers.”
About Shannon Morris, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Morris brings over 20 years of experience in the life sciences with a focus in oncology. She joined Erasca from Istari Oncology, where she was vice president, head of clinical development, and a member of the executive committee. Prior to joining Istari, she was vice president of clinical development at G1 Therapeutics where she led the development of Cosela™, achieving breakthrough therapy designation as well as a successful new drug application (NDA). As a senior director at MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, she supported the successful biologics license application (BLA) for Imfinzi® and led the development of multiple early phase immuno-oncology assets. At GlaxoSmithKline, she held roles of increasing responsibility where her efforts focused on the early phase development of small molecule inhibitors of AKT, PI3K, and MEK, including the approved MEK inhibitor Mekinist®. During her time at GlaxoSmithKline and MedImmune, Dr. Morris maintained an adjunct appointment at the University of North Carolina where her practice focused on the clinical care of patients with breast and gastrointestinal cancers. Dr. Morris completed her internal medicine residency and oncology fellowship at the University of North Carolina, earned an M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular virology from Case Western Reserve University, and holds a B.S. in biological sciences from Stanford University.
About Amy Grekowicz Parker, MPH
Ms. Parker joins Erasca with more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience and nine years of academic research. Her work in the industry has run the spectrum from large companies such as Pfizer to medium and small companies such as CancerVax, FibroGen, and Medivation. In positions ranging from clinical research associate to vice president of clinical operations, she has worked across all clinical phases with an emphasis in oncology. She joins Erasca from Oncternal Therapeutics where she served as vice president of clinical operations. Her career highlights include being part of the successful NDA for Sutent® as well as being the clinical operations lead on the Talzenna® NDA team. Ms. Parker has expertise in planning and execution of clinical studies, clinical budgeting, process improvement, vendor partnerships, and oversight. Prior to joining industry, she worked at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and Stanford Medical Center as a study coordinator. She holds a master of public health in epidemiology from San Diego State University and B.A. in political science and psychology from UCSD.
About John Lo, Ph.D.
Dr. Lo brings over 20 years of biopharmaceutical commercial expertise, including significant commercial experience across business development, launch, and lifecycle management. He has led multiple global strategic teams in hematology and oncology at AstraZeneca, Celgene, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Recently, as senior vice president of worldwide hematology at Bristol-Myers Squibb, he led the launch of five global hematology products including two cell therapies, Breyanzi® and Abecma®, overseeing a global portfolio of $15 billion in sales. At AstraZeneca, Dr. Lo led the strategic and global commercial function in oncology, establishing the strategy for multiple disease areas and leading 18 indication launches across the globe, including launching Tagrisso® globally, beating industry benchmarks with first year sales and doubling its sales potential, as well as launching Imfinzi® in stage 3 lung cancer to help establish a leading lung cancer franchise in targeted and immuno-oncology based therapies at the company. He also had increasing levels of responsibility at Novartis Oncology, most recently as vice president of the hematology franchise, ad interim, in the United States, where he successfully helped drive double-digit growth for a $3 billion franchise while preparing the organization for launches and integration. He has also advised early stage biotechnology companies on strategic, portfolio, and early commercialization decisions. Prior to his career in biopharmaceuticals, Dr. Lo was an associate principal at McKinsey & Company. He earned a Ph.D. in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and holds a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
About Erasca
At Erasca, our name is our mission: To erase cancer. We are a clinical-stage precision oncology company singularly focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing therapies for patients with RAS/MAPK pathway-driven cancers. Our company was co-founded by leading pioneers in precision oncology and RAS targeting to create novel therapies and combination regimens designed to comprehensively shut down the RAS/MAPK pathway for the treatment of cancer. We have assembled what we believe to be the deepest RAS/MAPK pathway-focused pipeline in the industry. We believe our team’s capabilities and experience, further guided by our scientific advisory board which includes the world’s leading experts in the RAS/MAPK pathway, uniquely position us to achieve our bold mission of erasing cancer.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Erasca cautions you that statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations and include, but are not limited to, our ability to continue to grow and develop our company, our ability to advance our development pipeline across multiple types of cancer and solid tumor indications, and our ability to commercialize our development pipeline. Actual results may differ from those set forth in this press release due to the risks and uncertainties inherent in our business, including, without limitation: our approach to the discovery and development of product candidates based on our singular focus on shutting down the RAS/MAPK pathway, a novel and unproven approach; potential delays in the commencement, enrollment, and completion of clinical trials and preclinical studies; our dependence on third parties in connection with manufacturing, research, and preclinical and clinical testing; unexpected adverse side effects or inadequate efficacy of our product candidates that may limit their development, regulatory approval, and/or commercialization, or may result in recalls or product liability claims; unfavorable results from preclinical studies or clinical trials; results from preclinical studies or early clinical trials not necessarily being predictive of future results; the inability to realize any benefits from our current licenses and acquisitions and any future licenses, acquisitions, or collaborations, and our ability to fulfill our obligations under such arrangements; regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries; our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our product candidates and maintain our rights under intellectual property licenses; our ability to fund our operating plans with our current cash, cash equivalents, and investments; our ability to maintain undisrupted business operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including delaying or disrupting our clinical trials, manufacturing, and supply chain; and other risks described in our prior filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including under the heading “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2021, and any subsequent filings with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, which is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Contact:
Joyce Allaire
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
jallaire@lifesciadvisors.com
Source: Erasca, Inc.
