New York, NY - April 27, 2017 - Rgenix, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule and antibody cancer therapeutics, announced today the appointment of Roger Waltzman, M.D., M.B.A. as its Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Waltzman brings more than 20 years of experience in oncology across the entire new drug development and approval process, including serving in various executive roles at Novartis for nearly a decade.
In his role, he will oversee clinical development at Rgenix, including clinical trial design and the new drug application process with regulators. He will also support Rgenix’s goals of providing a meaningful response for cancer patients lacking effective therapies by overseeing the patient experience.
“Dr. Waltzman has an extraordinary background in oncology, which is our focus at Rgenix, and his expertise will be crucial as we progress with the clinical development of our lead therapy, RGX-104, and our other drug candidates in development,” said Masoud Tavazoie, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Rgenix. “We look forward to his contributions to our work at Rgenix as we develop novel treatments for patients who suffer from cancer types with a high, unmet need.”
“Rgenix has innovation at its core, and I’m pleased to be joining an organization that is looking to fill a gap in oncology that could benefit hundreds of thousands of patients. I look forward to collaborating with the Rgenix team on its therapies and clinical developments as it looks to drive positive change in the industry,” said Dr. Waltzman.
Prior to Rgenix, Dr. Waltzman worked at Novartis in both Medical Affairs and Clinical Development roles. In oncology, he successfully filed an sNDA as the Clinical Development Head for Tasigna/Glivec and led the successful development and MAA/NDA filing of Jakavi/Jakafi, in collaboration with Incyte. His last position at Novartis was as Global Development Head for anti-malarials, where he continued Phase 2 development of two novel anti-malarials and facilitated a cost-saving Collaboration Agreement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Medicines for Malaria Venture.
His most recent position was with Jaguar Animal Health and Napo Pharmaceuticals in San Francisco where he was the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Medical Officer, leading the development of a first-in-class, FDA-approved botanical as a novel anti-diarrheal.
Dr. Waltzman received his medical degree from Brown University School of Medicine and his MBA from Columbia Business School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital, and his fellowship in hematology/oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He has been a member of the board of directors of GoDocGo and the Brown Medical Alumni Association since 2015.
About Rgenix
Rgenix, Inc., is a privately-held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer drugs that target key pathways in cancer progression. Using a miRNA based target discovery platform developed by Rgenix’s founders at The Rockefeller University, the company is pursuing several first-in-class drug candidates to treat cancers of high unmet need. The company brings together distinguished scientific founders, a seasoned Board, and a leadership team comprised of experienced drug developers. The company is funded by leading biotechnology investors, including Novo A/S, Sofinnova Partners, and Alexandria Venture Investments. For more information, please visit www.rgenix.com
