Rgenix Appoints Serial Entrepreneur and Senior Executive Peter Van Vlasselaer to Board of Directors
New York, NY – Rgenix, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule and antibody cancer therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Peter Van Vlasselaer, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Van Vlasselaer is a serial entrepreneur and most recently the President and CEO of ARMO Biosciences, which he also founded, until June 2018 when the company was acquired by Eli Lilly. He holds a B.S. in Zoology and a Ph.D. in Cellular Immunology from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium and subsequently was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Immunology and Rheumatology Department at the Stanford University Medical School and at DNAX Research Institute.
“Peter is renowned as a successful entrepreneur and leading executive, having created several successful biotech companies across his career. He carries with him over two decades of experience in the biotech industry, and his knowledge and insights will be most valuable for Rgenix as we move our first-in-class clinical and pre-clinical oncology programs forward. We are extremely pleased to have him join our Board of Directors,” said Masoud Tavazoie, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer of Rgenix.
In addition to founding and leading ARMO Biosciences, Dr. Van Vlasselaer also led and co-founded several other biotech companies, including: True North Therapeutics, which was acquired by Bioverativ; Arresto Biosciences, now a part of Gilead Sciences; iPierian, which Bristol-Myers Squibb ultimately acquired and Avidia, acquired by AMGEN. He was also among the start-up teams of Dendreon and Intermune. He currently serves on the Boards of TM3 Therapeutics and Blade Therapeutics.
“With its strong scientific foundation, novel target discovery approach, and exciting first-in-class programs, I strongly believe in the potential of Rgenix to fulfill its mission of bringing novel cancer therapeutics to patients with high unmet need, “said Peter Van Vlasselaer, Ph.D. “I look forward to working with the management team to further develop these therapeutic approaches.”
About Rgenix
Rgenix, Inc., is a privately-held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer drugs that target key pathways in cancer progression. The company is pursuing several first-in-class drug candidates to treat cancers of high unmet need. Rgenix identifies novel cancer targets using a microRNA-based target discovery platform originally developed by Rgenix’s scientific co-founders at The Rockefeller University and now exclusively licensed to Rgenix. The company brings together distinguished scientific founders, a seasoned Board, and a leadership team comprised of experienced drug developers. The company is funded by leading biotechnology investors, including Novo A/S, Sofinnova Partners, Lepu Medical, Oceanpine Capital, WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund, Alexandria Venture Investments, and the Partnership Fund for New York City’s Innovate NY Fund and associated entities. For more information, please visit www.rgenix.com.
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