With $105 million deposited in the bank less than four months ago, Arch Oncology is putting its series C resources to use.
The immuno-oncology biotech picked up three industry veterans Monday to lead its medical operations and clinical R&D, snagging leaders from AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb and Xencor. The moves come after Arch hired Syntimmune founder Laurence Blumberg, M.D., as CEO and president in April.
Among Monday’s hiring spree, most notable was Louie Naumovski, M.D., Ph.D., who steps in as the first chief medical officer role at Arch. Naumovski was group medical director for AbbVie’s oncology early development and was a clinical research fellow. He led randomized phase 1/2 clinical trials of antibody drug conjugates and other biologics across AbbVie’s oncology and immunology units.
Naumovski joins as Roche-backed Arch moves its anti-CD47 antibody through a phase 1/2 study. The drug, AO-176-101, is being tested as a monotherapy in patients with multiple myeloma and also alone and in combination with chemo drug paclitaxel in “select solid tumors” patients. Arch also plans to test the drug in combination with Merck’s PD-1 inhibitor, Keytruda, in solid tumors and with other drugs like Velcade and dexamethasone.
“I believe AO-176’s unique combination of features among anti-CD47 antibody therapies, including lower binding to normal cells and negligible binding to red blood cells, enhanced binding to CD47 in acidic environments found in tumors and induction of programmed and immunogenic cell death make it a promising novel therapeutic in the immuno-oncology space,” Naumovski said in a statement.
Next up on the leadership boost is Amit Agarwal, M.D., Ph.D., who comes from BMS. Agarwal will be Arch’s senior vice president of clinical development after serving as multiple myeloma global disease lead at the Big Pharma. Agarwal also managed the CAR-T portfolio at BMS.
Finally, Steve DeMattos became Arch’s senior vice president of clinical operations after holding a similar VP role at Xencor.