Expansion of leadership team with deep translational oncology drug development expertise as Company prepares for clinical development of lead programs
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Werewolf Therapeutics, Inc., an oncology biotherapeutics company developing next-generation, transformative cancer therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Randi Isaacs, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Isaacs brings to the Werewolf team more than 20 years' experience as a hematologist and oncologist driving clinical and translational oncology drug development both in academia and biopharma across a range of cancer treatments, including targeted therapies, multi-modality biologics, immunotherapies, and CAR T therapies. She joins the Company from the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) and will inform strategy and direction for Werewolf's clinical development programs in the newly formed role.
Dr. Randi Isaacs, Chief Medical Officer, Werewolf Therapeutics.
"This is an exciting moment in the growth and trajectory for Werewolf, as we welcome Dr. Randi Isaacs as our Chief Medical Officer," said Daniel J. Hicklin, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Werewolf Therapeutics. "Randi's extensive oncology and clinical research expertise with biotherapeutics, immunotherapy, and cellular therapy will enable Werewolf to advance our pipeline of transformative immunomodulatory therapeutics into clinical development."
Prior to joining Werewolf, Dr. Isaacs served as the Executive Director and Clinical Site Head of Translational Clinical Oncology at NIBR where she oversaw multiple early clinical oncology programs and served as the clinical liaison for key collaborations, business development and licensing evaluation and acquisition, including the collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania that resulted in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the first CAR T therapy KYMRIAH® (tisagenlecleucel) and numerous immunotherapy programs. During her career, Dr. Isaacs contributed to the early development of KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), in addition to other cancer therapies including TABRECTA™ (capmatinib), PIQRAY® (alpelisib) and KISQALI® (ribociclib). Dr. Isaacs also led the development and out-licensing of infigratinib to QED Therapeutics for the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma and other FGFR-driven diseases including urothelial cancer, which is currently under review with the FDA. Throughout her career, Dr. Isaacs has overseen more than 30 compounds from discovery into clinical development, including numerous immuno-oncology treatments. In addition, Dr. Isaacs held leadership positions at other leading pharmaceutical companies including the Head of Oncology Biologics at Merck, Director of Global Oncology at Schering Plough, and Associate Director of Clinical Research at Sandoz. At Werewolf, Dr. Isaacs will serve as a member of the Company's leadership team.
"Werewolf Therapeutics is employing tremendous innovation in drug discovery and development to creatively and elegantly harness proinflammatory immune modulators to develop the next-generation of transformative cancer therapeutics," said Dr. Isaacs. "I'm excited to join this seasoned, forward-thinking team and contribute my experience in oncology biotherapeutics and immunotherapy to devise a thoughtful strategy to advance novel biotherapeutics through the clinic for patients in need."
Werewolf is developing therapies designed to enhance the body's immune response to cancer by leveraging well-validated and emerging proinflammatory immunomodulators that have been challenging to develop as therapeutics. Werewolf uses its proprietary PREDATOR™ protein engineering platform to design conditionally activated proinflammatory cytokines, called INDUKINES™, that can be systemically administered in an inactive form. Upon entering the tumor microenvironment, the INDUKINES™ are selectively activated to deliver the full biological potency of cytokines and recruit a powerful anti-tumor immune response for maximum therapeutic potential, while minimizing unwanted off-target effects in non-tumor tissues.
Before transitioning to biopharma, Dr. Isaacs served in academia as an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology division at State University of New York Health Sciences Center and Clinical Assistant Professor in Hematology/Oncology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Isaacs earned her B.A. in chemistry from Wellesley College and her M.D. with honors from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She served as a resident and postdoctoral fellow at the University of California San Francisco and a medical Hematology/Oncology Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
About Werewolf Therapeutics, Inc.
Werewolf Therapeutics, Inc. is an oncology biotherapeutics company advancing a pipeline of next-generation, transformative cancer treatments designed to focus the body's immune response to selectively target cancer. Werewolf's proprietary PREDATOR™ protein engineering platform combines a variety of approaches to actively silence the drug while in systemic circulation, optimize its pharmacokinetic profile, and rapidly and efficiently transform into the fully active state upon reaching the tumor microenvironment for maximum therapeutic potential. Werewolf is creating a new era of tumor-selective, systemically delivered drugs with the potential to deliver more effective, less toxic treatments for people with cancer. To learn more visit www.werewolftx.com.
SOURCE Werewolf Therapeutics