ImmunoGenesis Opens Research Lab, Adds Key Roles

ImmunoGenesis, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing immune therapies, has appointed seasoned industry veterans to key roles to support the expansion of the company's R&D, clinical and business development activities. ImmunoGenesis also opened a research laboratory in JLABS @ TMC in Houston, TX, to facilitate critical translational research for its drug development programs.

The company recently licensed key development assets including PD-L1/PD-L2 dual specific antibodies, STING agonists and 4-1BB antibodies from MD Anderson Cancer Center, as well as the acquisition of evofosfamide from Molecular Templates. Additionally, ImmunoGenesis was awarded a product development grant of $15.5 million by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, which will help advance its lead drug candidate IMGS-001, the dual-specific PD-L1/PD-L2 mAb with built-in effector function to overcome deficiencies of existing checkpoint inhibitor mAbs for the treatment of cold tumors.

The new ImmunoGenesis team additions include:

Federica Pericle, Ph.D., Acting Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Pericle brings more than 25 years of experience as a biotech executive and scientist and will head the translational efforts for ImmunoGenesis. She most recently served as the CEO of Agilvax.

Annemarie Moseley, MD, Ph.D., Acting Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Moseley has more than 20 years of executive experience in biotech and will lead ImmunoGenesis' clinical programs. She most recently served as CEO of Sandhill Therapeutics and Executive Vice President of Operations at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals.

Matthew Hemberger, Ph.D., Senior Director of CMC & Quality. Dr. Hemberger will be responsible for developing manufacturing and quality programs and processes. He joins ImmunoGenesis from GlaxoSmithKline where he was Director of Data Integrity for the joint venture between GSK and Pfizer and held roles in GSK's Global Manufacturing and Supply.

Cassandra Harrison, MBA, MPH, Vice President of Clinical Operations. With more than ten years of experience in operations, compliance, and direct patient care in the pharmaceutical and devices industry, Harrison will lead all ImmunoGenesis clinical operations. She was previously Vice President of Data Management and Clinical Operations at Sandhill Therapeutics. Prior to that she served as Director of Data Sciences at Mersana Therapeutics and Director of Data Management at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals. 

Scott Cullison, MBA, Acting Chief Business Officer. Cullison will be responsible for business development strategy and execution. He previously was VP, Business Development and Commercial Planning, at Peloton Therapeutics where he was involved in its acquisition by Merck for $2.3 billion and at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals focused on late-stage global launch planning for an IO targeted candidate and early commercial planning for IO portfolio. For the past two years, he has run his own consulting company called Stride BDCom Consulting, LLC, that focuses on providing business development and commercial planning for emerging bio pharmaceuticals companies.

Christine Gagliardi, Ph.D., Director of Research & Development. Dr. Gagliardi will lead the newly opened company research lab at JLABS. Her prior industry experience includes R&D roles at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer.