Oruka Therapeutics, Inc. (“Oruka”), a biotechnology company
developing novel biologics designed to set a new standard for the
treatment of chronic skin diseases, including plaque psoriasis,
today announced the appointment of Joe Senn, PhD, as Senior Vice
President of Nonclinical Research & Development. Dr. Senn is a
research and development leader with experience in nearly all
therapeutic modalities, including biologics, mRNA therapeutics,
gene editing, and small molecules. He has built broad expertise in
pharmacology and toxicology through leading the advancement of over
50 programs from preclinical stage into clinical development,
including multiple monoclonal antibody programs.
In addition, Oruka announced the appointment of Rajiv Panwar,
PhD, as Vice President and Head of Chemistry, Manufacturing, and
Controls (CMC). Dr. Panwar brings deep experience in biologics
manufacturing, having previously served in CMC leadership roles at
Disc Medicine and Magenta Therapeutics.
“We are excited to strengthen our growing executive team with
the addition of these two industry leaders. Joe and Rajiv each
bring a wealth of experience in their respective fields and have
been responsible for advancing dozens of truly breakthrough
programs into the clinic and beyond,” said Lawrence Klein, PhD,
Chief Executive Officer of Oruka Therapeutics. “We welcome them to
Oruka and believe they each will play a pivotal role in allowing us
to efficiently advance ORKA-001 and ORKA-002 into clinical
development.”
Dr. Senn has a long-standing track record of success in
advancing breakthrough therapeutics into the clinic, having most
recently served as SVP, Head of R&D at SalioGen Therapeutics,
where he oversaw the development of SalioGen’s first clinical
candidate and non-viral gene therapy platform for the retina. Prior
to his time at SalioGen, Dr. Senn served as VP, Nonclinical
Development at Moderna Therapeutics, where he and his team were
responsible for progressing over 40 candidates into the clinic,
including conducting the IND- and BLA-enabling nonclinical work for
Spikevax®, Moderna’s COVID vaccine. Prior to Moderna, Dr. Senn was
Site Head for Drug Safety at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, overseeing the
development of all immunology products across the portfolio. He
earned his PhD in Pharmacology and Physiology from the University
of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and his Bachelor of
Science (BS) from Niagara University.
Dr. Panwar brings over a decade of experience in CMC leadership
across all areas, including process, analytical, formulation, and
manufacturing, for biologics and other therapeutic modalities. He
most recently served as VP, CMC and Clinical Supply Chain at Disc
Medicine, where he advanced multiple small molecule and monoclonal
antibody programs into development, including initiating late-stage
CMC activities in support of NDA filing readiness. Prior to Disc,
Rajiv held roles of increasing responsibility at Magenta
Therapeutics where he served as Head of Technical Operations,
supporting GMP manufacturing campaigns for a variety of therapeutic
modalities, including antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates.
Before Magenta, Rajiv was Head of Analytical CMC at Eleven
Biotherapeutics (later Sesen Bio), where he led CMC activities in
support of Phase 2/3 clinical trials for multiple biologics. He
holds an MS/PhD in Interdisciplinary Pharmaceutical Sciences from
Northeastern University and a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences from MD
University in India.
About Oruka Therapeutics
Oruka Therapeutics is developing novel biologics designed to set
a new standard for the treatment of chronic skin diseases. Oruka’s
mission is to offer patients suffering from chronic skin diseases
like plaque psoriasis the greatest possible freedom from their
condition by achieving high rates of complete disease clearance
with dosing as infrequently as one or twice a year. Oruka is
advancing a proprietary portfolio of potentially best-in-class
antibodies that were engineered by Paragon Therapeutics and target
the core mechanisms underlying plaque psoriasis and other
dermatologic and inflammatory diseases. For more information, visit
www.orukatx.com and follow Oruka on LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release, other than purely
historical information, may constitute “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including for
purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, concerning Oruka
and other matters. These forward-looking statements include, but
are not limited to, express or implied statements relating to
Oruka’s management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions
or strategies regarding the future including, without limitation,
Oruka’s business strategy, Oruka’s potential growth opportunities,
Oruka’s preclinical and future clinical development activities, the
potential therapeutic benefits and economic value of Oruka’s
programs, the timing and results of preclinical studies and
clinical trials, Oruka’s business plans and the anticipated
benefits of the management changes. In addition, any statements
that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of
future events or circumstances, including any underlying
assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words
“opportunity,” “potential,” “can,” “goal,” “aim,” “strategy,”
“target,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “achieve,” “believe,”
“contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,”
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“project,” “should,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions
(including the negatives of these terms or variations of them) may
identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words
does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects.
There can be no assurance that future developments affecting Oruka
will be those that have been anticipated. These forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which
are beyond Oruka’s control) or other assumptions that may cause
actual results and performance to be materially different from
those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important
factors included in filings by Oruka from time to time. Should one
or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any
of Oruka’s assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in
material respects from those projected in these forward-looking
statements. Nothing in this press release should be regarded as a
representation by any person that the forward-looking statements
set forth therein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated
results of such forward-looking statements will be achieved. You
should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements in
this press release, which speak only as of the date they are made
and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the cautionary
statements herein. Oruka does not undertake or accept any duty to
make any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements.
This press release does not purport to summarize all of the
conditions, risks and other attributes of an investment in
Oruka.
Oruka Therapeutics Corporate Communications
Contact:Sheryl
Seapy949-903-4750sseapy@realchemistry.com