Company Adds Leaders in Finance, CMC and Business Development as it Advances Portfolio of Immunotherapies for Solid Tumors
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Akamis Bio, a clinical-stage oncology company using a proprietary Tumor-Specific Immuno-Gene Therapy (T-SIGn®) platform to deliver novel immunotherapeutic payloads to solid tumors, today announced the appointment of three veteran biotech leaders to its executive management team. John Hayes, CPA, was named Vice President of Finance; Michael Kuczewski joins as Vice President of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC); and Dr. Satinder Rawat, Ph.D., joins as Senior Director, Business Development and Alliance Management.
“We are thrilled to welcome these experienced leaders at this critical inflection point for the Company. In addition to supporting our internal efforts to deliver clinical proof-of-concept for our lead candidate in locally advanced rectal cancer, these executives will bring their deep expertise to bear as Akamis Bio works with its external collaboration partners to maximize the potential of our immunotherapeutic approach to treating solid tumors,” said Howard Davis, PhD, CEO of Akamis Bio.
Earlier this month, the Company announced enrollment of the first patient in its proof-of-concept Phase 1b FORTRESS study of NG-350A in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The study (NCT06459869) is an open-label, single-arm, and multicenter trial of Akamis Bio’s lead clinical candidate, NG-350A, in combination with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in adult patients with LARC and at least one risk factor for local or distant recurrence or with oligometastatic disease.
NG-350A is an intravenously delivered T-SIGn® therapeutic designed to drive intratumoral expression of a CD40 agonist monoclonal antibody triggering the activation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) resident in solid tumors and their draining lymph nodes. Once activated, APCs recruit T cells into the vicinity of the tumor to deliver a potent anti-tumor immune response.
New Leadership Team Members
John Hayes has over twenty years of finance and accounting experience in the life science industry. Prior to joining Akamis Bio, he was the Vice President of Finance at Intellia Therapeutics, where he supported the Company’s growth from research to commercial readiness, and assisted in multiple rounds of financing helping to raise more than $1B. Prior to joining Intellia, John held senior finance roles at Crestovo, Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals and Aveo Oncology. He began his public accounting career at PwC and Ernst & Young where he focused on the life science industry.
Michael Kuczewski most recently served as Vice President of CMC at Kelonia Therapeutics, where he led a team responsible for developing and scaling Kelonia’s biomanufacturing processes. During his tenure, Michael played a key role in advancing Kelonia’s lead in vivo CAR-T candidate towards the clinic, in addition to establishing and executing a collaboration with Astellas to develop another candidate. Michael’s extensive experience spans both early- and late-stage gene therapy programs, and he has deep regulatory strategy expertise. Prior to his time at Kelonia, Michael held roles of increasing responsibility at 2Seventy bio and bluebird bio, where he played a pivotal role as CMC lead for the Abecma CAR-T program, guiding it from IND-enabling work through BLA approval.
Satinder Rawat, PhD, has an extensive background in business development, licensing, and strategic partnerships, with a focus on gene therapies, rare diseases, neurology, ophthalmology, and oncology. Prior to joining Akamis Bio, Dr. Rawat held roles in business development and alliance management at UMass Medical School, Taysha Gene Therapies and Excision Biotherapeutics. He has led licensing deals across a range of novel modalities including antisense oligos (ASO), miRNA/siRNA and antibody technologies, and he has built and managed diverse portfolios of cutting-edge technologies which have been foundational for innovative startups including Voyager Therapeutics, Generation Bio and Villaris Therapeutics. He also established and managed alliances with major biopharma companies including Pfizer, Astellas, Sarepta and BridgeBio.
About Akamis Bio
Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamis Bio is a clinical-stage oncology company developing systemically administered immunotherapies to treat solid tumors, initially in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Its proprietary Tumor-Specific Immuno-Gene Therapy (T-SIGn®) platform is designed to deliver novel immunotherapeutic proteins, biomolecules and transgene combinations to treat solid tumors, with its lead clinical-stage program, NG-350A, driving intratumoral expression of a CD40 agonist monoclonal antibody. To learn more, please visit www.akamisbio.com.
Contacts
Media Contact:
Jason Glashow
Glashow Strategic Communications
Jason.Glashow@akamisbio.com
