Mural Oncology Launches to Advance Pipeline of Novel Engineered Cytokine Immunotherapies
15 Noviembre 2023 - 6:00AM
Mural Oncology plc (Nasdaq: MURA) today launched as an independent,
publicly traded, clinical-stage immuno-oncology company leveraging
its core competencies in immune cell modulation and protein
engineering to develop novel, investigational engineered cytokine
therapies designed to address areas of unmet need for patients with
a variety of cancers. Mural’s ordinary shares will begin trading on
the Nasdaq Global Market tomorrow, November 16th, under the ticker
symbol “MURA”.
“Immunotherapies have made a tremendous impact on the treatment
of cancers over the past decade,” said Caroline Loew, Ph.D., the
Company’s chief executive officer. “Unfortunately, many patients
either do not respond or do not have durable responses. We believe
Mural Oncology can lead the future of immunotherapies for patients.
Our protein engineering expertise allows us to reimagine the
development of pro-inflammatory cytokine-based therapeutics that
could address the key limitations with current cancer
immunotherapies. I am thrilled to lead this company and am
energized by the enormous potential of our lead clinical candidate,
our preclinical programs, and our underlying protein engineering
capabilities.”
Mural Oncology’s pipeline is built to address difficult-to-treat
tumor types where checkpoint inhibitors are not effective. The
Company’s lead product candidate, nemvaleukin alfa (nemvaleukin),
is an investigational, engineered interleukin-2 (IL-2) cytokine
designed to capture and expand the therapeutic benefits of
high-dose recombinant human IL-2 (rhIL-2), while mitigating the
hallmark toxicities of native IL-2 in difficult-to-treat cancers
with high unmet need. Nemvaleukin is currently in two potentially
registrational studies: one for the treatment of mucosal melanoma
as a monotherapy and one for the treatment of platinum-resistant
ovarian cancer (PROC) in combination with pembrolizumab.
In addition to nemvaleukin, Mural Oncology has discovery-stage
programs in IL-18 and IL-12, focused on proinflammatory cytokines
that leverage the Company’s immune cell modulation expertise and
protein engineering capabilities. This multi-faceted approach to
cytokine engineering is aimed at maximizing the utility of
identified cytokines and includes binding selectivity,
tumor-targeting, half-life modification, and stable fusion
proteins.
“We believe nemvaleukin has the potential to reduce native
IL-2’s toxicities, potentially allowing greater tolerability and
efficacy than other IL-2 molecules have shown in the past,” Dr.
Loew continued. “We plan to report top-line results in each of
mucosal melanoma and PROC in the first quarter of 2025 and declare
product candidates across both of our other discovery-stage
programs in 2024. We are building on years of foundational work
from which our engineered cytokines may lead to new therapies for
significant patient populations where checkpoint inhibitors either
failed to achieve a response or produced a limited response. We
believe these new therapies could be effective either as
monotherapies or in combination with a range of other
therapeutics.”
To advance the Company’s pipeline and capitalize on its protein
engineering capabilities, Mural has assembled an experienced and
highly accomplished executive team and board of directors.
Mural Oncology’s executive officers:
- Caroline Loew, Ph.D., chief executive officer,
was previously president and chief executive officer of Glympse
Bio. Prior to Glympse, she was vice president, head of R&D
strategy and planning at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). Dr. Loew
joined BMS following leadership roles at Merck and PhRMA, where she
led teams responsible for commercial portfolio management, market
access, and regulatory policy.
- Adam Cutler, chief financial officer, was
previously chief financial officer of both Q32 Bio and Molecular
Templates. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of corporate
affairs at Arbutus Biopharma.
- Vicki Goodman, M.D., chief medical officer,
was previously executive vice president, product development
& medical affairs, and chief medical officer of Exelixis.
Previously, she was vice president, clinical research and
therapeutic area head, late-stage oncology at Merck where she
oversaw the company’s late-stage development portfolio, including
pembrolizumab. Prior to Merck, she was a member of BMS’s oncology
senior leadership team, managing a team developing nivolumab and
ipilimumab.
- Maiken Keson-Brookes, chief legal officer,
previously served as chief legal officer and corporate secretary of
Rubius Therapeutics. Prior to joining Rubius, she served as General
Counsel at Synlogic, uniQure, and Forum Pharmaceuticals.
Mural Oncology’s board of directors:
- Scott Jackson, MBA, chairman of the board,
previously served as chief executive officer and as a member of the
board of directors of Celator Pharmaceuticals until it was acquired
by Jazz Pharmaceuticals in 2016. Mr. Jackson has over thirty years
of corporate leadership experience at Celator, Eli Lilly,
SmithKline Beecham, ImClone Systems, Centocor, Eximias, and YM
Biosciences.
- Susan Altschuller, Ph.D., MBA, currently
serves as chief financial officer for Cerevel Therapeutics and
previously was chief financial officer of Immunogen. Prior to
Immunogen, she was at Alexion, where she served as head of
enterprise finance after being vice president and head of investor
relations.
- Francis Cuss, M.B., B.Chir., FRCP, is the
retired executive vice president, chief scientific officer, and
head of research and development of BMS. Prior to BMS, Dr Cuss was
the vice president of early clinical research and experimental
medicine at Schering Plough Research Institute.
- Benjamin Hickey, MBA, currently serves as the
executive vice president, chief commercial officer of Mirati
Therapeutics. Previously, he was senior vice president and chief
commercial officer at Halozyme after spending 17 years in roles of
increasing responsibility at BMS, where he oversaw the
commercialization of Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy
(ipilimumab).
- Caroline Loew, Ph.D., chief executive officer
of Mural Oncology
Goodwin Procter LLP and Arthur Cox LLP are serving as legal
counsel to Mural Oncology.
About Mural OncologyMural Oncology is
leveraging its industry-leading protein engineering platform to
revolutionize cytokine-based immunotherapies for the treatment of
cancer. Our expertise in cytokine biology and immune cell
modulation and our unmatched protein engineering will enable us to
develop medicines that deliver meaningful and clinical benefits to
people living with cancer. Our mission is to broaden the potential
and reach of cytokine-based immunotherapies to improve the lives of
patients. Mural Oncology has its registered office in Dublin,
Ireland, and its primary facilities in Waltham, Mass. For more
information, visit Mural Oncology’s website at
www.muraloncology.com and follow at LinkedIn and X.
Forward-Looking StatementsStatements contained
in this press release regarding matters that are not historical
facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results
may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not
limited to, statements regarding: the Company’s pipeline and
development programs, including the expected timing of clinical
updates and candidate selection, the potential of the Company’s
product candidates and programs to address unmet medical needs, and
continued progress of its pipeline and programs. Any
forward-looking statements in this statement are based on
management’s current expectations of future events and are subject
to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in
or implied by such forward-looking statements. Risks that
contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking
statements include those risks and uncertainties set forth in its
Registration Statement Form 10, which was declared effective by the
Securities and Exchange Commission on October 31, 2023. All
forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak
only as of the date on which they were made. The Company undertakes
no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that
occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were
made.
Investors:Dave Borah, CFASVP, Investor
Relations & Corporate
Affairsdavid.borah@muraloncology.com781-614-0060
Media:Jordan Hirsigjordan@scientpr.com
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