February 21, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – When looking for a leader to helm startup Cue BioPharma, company founders were looking for someone well-versed in both the world of science and big business. To find the ideal leader, the founders turned to Fairway Consulting Group to lead its executive search.
Cue BioPharma launched from stealth mode in January with $26 million in financing and a focus on developing second-generation immuno-oncology drugs. Cue BioPharma is building a technology platform designed to fuse engineered T-cell costimulatory signaling molecules (ligands) with a T-cell receptor targeting complex (peptide-MHC) on a traditional scaffold of an antibody. To help drive the company, founders Ron Seidel and Rodolfo “Rudy” Chaparro wanted a leader who was passionate about cancer research and had the knowledge to work with potential partners to develop the pipeline. That’s where Fairway Consulting came in. After conducting a wide search, the group tapped biotech veteran Daniel Passeri to helm the new company. Before taking over the top spot at Cue, Passeri served as CEO of Lexington, Mass.-based Curis, Inc. and also held leadership roles with The Jackson Laboratory.
In an interview with Hunt Scanlon, Dan Gold, president and global head of the R&D recruiting practice at Fairway, explained the process of tapping Passeri.
“It was critical that they hired someone who had deep scientific interests, credibility, and enthusiasm. They wanted someone with deal-making experience who could be their key interface with potential partners and bring the right balance of business acumen and people skills to establish a significant big pharma partnership,” Gold said in the interview with Hunt Scanlon.
For Gold, Passeri was the ideal candidate. He had “decades of experience” in both oncology and immuno-oncology. “He had previously run a small oncology biotech company in Boston so he was a battle-tested veteran who could leverage his experience,” Gold said.
In addition to his leadership history in the field, Passeri was experienced in constructing deals with larger companies, Gold said. During his time, Passeri “established several partnerships with big pharma companies and knew how to navigate deals from inception to completion.”
In addition to his background in science, Passeri is also an attorney, which provided him with a keen understanding of the company’s intellectual property and the ability to defend it.
Not only did he have that background, Gold told Hunt Scanlon that Passeri also demonstrated a sense of humility and steadiness that is critical in today’s business world.”
When Cue launched in January, Passeri said the company’s platform “demonstrated selectivity for and modulation of disease-relevant T cells.”
“Our lead candidate has exhibited significant potential in preclinical cancer models and has shown impressive synergy when combined with checkpoint inhibitors. Our approach to modulating the immune system to treat disease could have great clinical benefit for patients, while reducing collateral toxicities often seen with less selective immunotherapies,” he said in a statement.
