Leadership Team Further Strengthened with Additions of Nick Galli, J.D., as SVP, Chief Business Officer and Leslie Robbins, J.D. as SVP, Intellectual Property
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Feb. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTMX), a clinical-stage oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel class of investigational antibody therapeutics based on its Probody™ therapeutic technology platform, today announced the appointments of Nick Galli, J.D., as senior vice president, chief business officer and Leslie Robbins, J.D., as senior vice president, intellectual property.
“The additions Nick and Leslie to our leadership team reflect our ongoing commitment to partnership formation and aggressive protection of our intellectual property as core pillars of our corporate strategy,” said Sean McCarthy, D.Phil., president, chief executive officer and chairman of CytomX. “Nick’s proven track record in transformational business development and Leslie’s broad and deep IP experience across discovery, development and commercial stages of biologic drug development will be great assets as we seek to maximize the utility of our Probody technology for patients.”
Nick Galli, J.D.
Mr. Galli brings more than 15 years of transactions experience, most of which has been focused in the biotechnology industry. Most recently, Mr. Galli held the position of vice president, business development at Denali Therapeutics where he led the execution of more than twenty collaborations, including strategic partnerships with Sanofi-Genzyme, Takeda, Genentech and F-star. Prior to Denali, Mr. Galli was senior director, transactions at Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center. Prior to this, Mr. Galli held roles of increasing responsibility at Genentech within the business development and transactional law groups. Mr. Galli began his career as a corporate attorney at the law offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and practiced in the technology transactions group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Mr. Galli received his B.A. degree from Princeton University and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.
“CytomX has the potential to change the treatment paradigm in cancer. I am pleased to be joining a company with a strong track record of clinical development execution and look forward to helping build upon their current portfolio of partnerships,” said Mr. Galli.
Leslie Robbins, J.D.
Ms. Robbins has over 25 years of legal and intellectual property strategic experience within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Ms. Robbins joins CytomX from Coherus BioSciences where she held the role of vice president, intellectual property and was responsible for, among other things, the execution of legal strategies in support of the biosimilar platform. Prior to this, she held senior intellectual property counsel roles at Onyx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Amgen) where she provided strategy and advice on intellectual property related matters related to KYPROLIS® and Elan Pharmaceuticals where she oversaw all intellectual property matters related to TYSABRI®, the company’s humanized antibody product. Ms. Robbins began her career at Chiron Corporation and later joined the law firm of Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis where she prepared and prosecuted U.S. and foreign patent applications in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields. Ms. Robbins received her B.A. degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law.
“I am excited to be a part of a pioneering company committed to improving the lives of cancer patients. I look forward to sharing my experiences in assisting companies as they evolve from development to commercial stage as we advance the Probody technology,” said Ms. Robbins.
About CytomX Therapeutics
CytomX Therapeutics is a clinical-stage oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel class of investigational antibody therapeutics based on its Probody™ therapeutic technology platform. Probody therapeutics are designed to exploit unique conditions of the tumor microenvironment to more effectively localize antibody binding and activity while limiting activity in healthy tissues. CytomX and its partners have four programs in the clinic. The Company’s pipeline includes cancer immunotherapies against clinically-validated targets, including a PD-L1-targeting Probody therapeutic wholly owned by CytomX (CX-072), a PD-1-targeting Probody therapeutic wholly owned by CytomX (CX-188) and a CTLA-4-targeting Probody therapeutic partnered with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS-986249). The pipeline also includes first-in-class Probody drug conjugates against highly attractive targets including a CD166-targeting Probody drug conjugate wholly owned by CytomX (CX-2009), and a CD71-targeting Probody drug conjugate partnered with AbbVie (CX-2029). CD166 and CD71 are among cancer targets that are considered to be inaccessible to conventional antibody drug conjugates due to their presence on many healthy tissues. In addition to its wholly owned programs, CytomX has strategic collaborations with AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and ImmunoGen, Inc. For more information, visit www.cytomx.com.
CytomX Therapeutics Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control, and may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in such statements. Accordingly, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements, including those relating to the potential benefits, safety and efficacy of CytomX’s or any of its collaborative partners’ product candidate, and CytomX’s ability and the ability of its collaborative partners to develop and advance product candidates into and successfully complete clinical trials, including CytomX’s Phase 1/2 clinical trials of CX-072, CX-2009 and CX-2029. Risks and uncertainties that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: three of CytomX’s product candidates under its Probody platform are in the initial stages of clinical development and its other product candidates are currently in preclinical development, and the process by which preclinical and clinical development could potentially lead to an approved product is long and subject to significant risks and uncertainties; the possibility that the results of early clinical trials may not be predictive of future results; the possibility that CytomX’s clinical trials will not be successful; CytomX’s dependence on the success of CX-072, CX-2009 and CX-2029; CytomX’s reliance on third parties for the manufacture of the company’s product candidates; and possible regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries. Additional applicable risks and uncertainties include those relating to our preclinical research and development, clinical development, and other risks identified under the heading “Risk Factors” included in CytomX’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 6, 2018. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on information currently available to CytomX and speak only as of the date on which they are made. CytomX does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.
Contact:
Investors and Media:
Christopher Keenan
VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
ckeenan@cytomx.com
650-383-0823