ST. LOUIS and SAN DIEGO, Nov. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wugen, Inc., a clinical-stage U.S. biotechnology company developing allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies for the treatment of hematological and solid tumor malignancies, today announced the appointment of Cherry T. Thomas, M.D. as the company’s chief medical officer.
“Cherry joins Wugen at our most critical inflection point yet, as we prepare to begin our Phase 2 pivotal trial for WU-CART-007, the first CD7-targeted allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy to advance to this critical stage of research,” said Kumar Srinivasan, Ph.D., M.B.A., president and chief executive officer of Wugen. “Cherry is a recognized expert in the clinical development of cell therapies and her rich experience includes leading drug development programs in both hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. We are honored and excited to work with Cherry to move Wugen forward.”
Dr. Thomas brings to her new role more than two decades of experience across the biopharma industry and clinical practice. Her experience includes early- to late-stage research and development, clinical operations, translational medicine, global regulatory strategy, drug safety, drug development leadership, medical affairs and global launch.
“Joining Wugen as chief medical officer is an exceptional opportunity to serve at the forefront of innovation in cell therapy,” Dr. Thomas said. “I am inspired by the company’s commitment to addressing critical medical needs for patients with limited treatment options. I am honored to work alongside a talented and experienced team dedicated to making a clinically meaningful difference in the lives of patients around the world.”
Before joining Wugen, Dr. Thomas was the chief medical officer of Catamaran Bio, and senior vice president and head of clinical development at Caribou Biosciences, where she successfully obtained first IND status and clinical data sets allowing a CRISPR genome-edited allogeneic cell therapy platform into the oncology clinic. Earlier, Dr. Thomas was vice president of oncology clinical development at Array Biopharma and Pfizer Oncology. She held leadership roles of increasing responsibility and breadth at Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Beigene, GSK and Amgen.
Dr. Thomas completed her residency in radiation oncology at the University of Michigan and her internal medicine internship at UCLA. Five years in clinical practice followed where she held an NIH NCRR research grant to evaluate a novel use of radionuclides for prostate cancer. Dr. Thomas received her B.A. from UCLA, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa; her M.A. in international economics from Johns Hopkins University; and her M.D. from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine.
About WU-CART-007
WU-CART-007 is an allogeneic, off-the-shelf, fratricide-resistant CD7-targeted CAR-T cell therapy engineered to overcome the technological challenges of harnessing CAR-T cells to treat CD7+ hematological malignancies. Wugen is deploying CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to delete CD7 and the T cell receptor alpha constant (TRAC), preventing CAR-T cell fratricide and mitigating the risk of graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD). WU-CART-007 is manufactured using healthy donor-derived T cells to eliminate the risk of malignant cell contamination historically observed in the autologous CAR-T setting. WU-CART-007 is currently being evaluated in a global Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of relapsed or refractory (R/R) T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL)/lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL). More information on the Phase 1/2 trial is available on clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT# 04984356 and on the Phase 2 pivotal trial on clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT06514794.
WU-CART-007 has received Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT), Fast Track, Orphan Drug, and Rare Pediatric Disease designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Priority Medicines (PRIME) Scheme designation in the European Union for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (R/R) T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL). RMAT and PRIME designations provide increased agency support to expedite the development and review of promising therapies for patients in need.
About Wugen
Wugen, Inc. is a clinical-stage U.S. biotechnology company developing the next generation of off-the-shelf CAR-T and memory natural killer (NK) cell therapies for cancer. For more information, please visit www.wugen.com and follow Wugen’s LinkedIn page.
Investor Contact:
Mark Lewis
Wugen
Mlewis@wugen.com
314-501-1968
Media Contact:
Christine Fanelle
Scient PR
christine@scientpr.com
215-595-5211
