CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jounce Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer immunotherapies coupled to patient enrichment, today announced the appointment of Perry A. Karsen to the company’s board of directors. Over the next few months Mr. Karsen will transition to the role of chairman of the board, succeeding Cary Pfeffer, M.D., partner at Third Rock Ventures, who will retain a position on the Jounce board. Mr. Karsen brings more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and recently retired from his role as chief executive officer of Celgene Cellular Therapeutics (CCT), the cell therapy research and development division of Celgene Corporation.
“We are thrilled to welcome Perry to our board of directors,” said Richard Murray, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer. “Perry’s extensive leadership experience and proven track record of building and leading biopharmaceutical companies through critical stages of preclinical and clinical development will be integral to Jounce as we aim to progress our immuno-oncology pipeline in 2016.”
Mr. Karsen served as the chief executive officer of CCT since May 2013, previously serving as Celgene Corporation’s executive vice president and chief operations officer. Previously, Mr. Karsen was the president and chief executive officer of Pearl Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company acquired by AstraZeneca plc in 2013. He joined Pearl from Celgene, where he was senior vice president and head of worldwide business development. Prior to Celgene, Mr. Karsen held multiple leadership positions at Human Genome Sciences, Inc.; vice president, strategic business analysis and development at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.; director, business development and representative director, Japan at Genentech, Inc.; various domestic and international roles with Abbott Laboratories; and he was a general partner at Pequot Ventures. Mr. Karsen previously served as a member of the board of directors of the Life Sciences Foundation, Inc. and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Voyager Therapeutics, Inc., Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Alliqua BioMedical, Inc. Mr. Karsen received a masters of management from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, a masters in teaching of biology from Duke University and a B.S. in biological sciences from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
“Immuno-oncology is a rapidly expanding field with the potential to transform the treatment of patients with various cancers,” said Mr. Karsen. “I am very excited to join the Jounce board of directors at this important time for the future of cancer therapeutics. Jounce’s translational approach to immuno-oncology clearly distinguishes them, and I look forward to working with the company to help advance their pipeline of potentially groundbreaking therapies for patients.”
About Jounce Therapeutics
Jounce Therapeutics is dedicated to transforming the treatment of cancer. The company is discovering and developing novel cancer immunotherapies designed to harness the immune system to seek out and attack cancerous cells and tumors. Jounce integrates translational science insights to select the right targets and patient populations, which may lead to clinical trials with higher probability of success and rapid proof-of-concept. The company is advancing programs that leverage contributions from its world-class founders as well as knowledge acquired from Jounce’s translational science platform to create a sustainable “discovery to human proof-of-concept” product engine with the potential to drive significantly more durable responses to treatment. Founded by world leaders in tumor immunology, cancer biology and clinical and translational medicine, Jounce Therapeutics was launched in 2013 with funding from leading life sciences investor, Third Rock Ventures. For more information, please visit www.jouncetx.com.