PureTech Founded Entity Vor Biopharma Appoints David Lubner to its Board of Directors
PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC) (“PureTech” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercialising highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, is pleased to note that its Founded Entity, Vor Biopharma, today announced it has appointed David Lubner to its Board of Directors. A life science leader and senior finance executive, Mr Lubner most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at Ra Pharma until May 2020 following its acquisition by UCB.
The full text of the announcement from Vor is as follows:
Vor Biopharma Appoints David Lubner to its Board of Directors
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., – July 30, 2020 – Vor Biopharma, an oncology company pioneering engineered haematopoietic stem cells (eHSCs) for the treatment of cancer, today announced the appointment of David Lubner, a senior finance executive with over 25 years of experience, to Vor’s Board of Directors.
“David’s expertise as a life sciences leader with a deep understanding of strategy, finance, capital markets and operations will benefit us greatly moving forward as we continue to build our company and platform and develop therapies for patients,” said Robert Ang, MBBS, MBA, Vor’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
Most recently, Mr Lubner served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ra Pharma until May 2020 following its acquisition by UCB. Prior to Ra Pharma, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals and as Chief Financial Officer of PharMetrics Inc., a leading patient-based pharmacy and medical claims data informatics company. He was also Chief Financial Officer at ProScript, where Velcade® (bortezomib), a therapy widely used for the treatment of the blood cancer multiple myeloma, was discovered. Mr Lubner serves on the Board of Directors of Dyne Therapeutics, Therapeutics Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: TXAC), Gemini Therapeutics and Ichnos Sciences. A Certified Public Accountant, Mr Lubner received his BS in business administration from Northeastern University and an MS in taxation from Bentley University.
“Having just completed a $110 million Series B financing, Vor is well placed to build out its scientific platform and begin clinical trials in 2021,” Lubner said. “Vor’s approach has the potential to radically change outcomes in patients suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia and other blood cancers, and I look forward to contributing towards Vor’s success.”
About Vor Biopharma
Vor Biopharma aims to transform the lives of cancer patients by pioneering engineered haematopoietic stem cell (eHSC) therapies. By removing biologically redundant proteins from eHSCs, these cells become inherently invulnerable to complementary targeted therapies while tumour cells are left susceptible, thereby unleashing the potential of targeted therapies to benefit cancer patients in need.
Vor’s platform could be used to potentially change the treatment paradigm of both haematopoietic stem cell transplants and targeted therapies, such as antibody drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies and CAR-T cell treatments.
Vor is based in Cambridge, Mass. and has a broad intellectual property base, including in-licenses from Columbia University, where foundational work was conducted by inventor and Vor Scientific Board Chair Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil.
About VOR33
Vor’s lead product candidate, VOR33, consists of engineered haematopoietic stem cells (eHSCs) that lack the protein CD33. Once these cells are transplanted into a cancer patient, we believe that CD33 will become a far more cancer-specific target, potentially avoiding toxicity to the normal blood and bone marrow associated with CD33-targeted therapies. Vor aims to improve the therapeutic window and effectiveness of CD33-targeted therapies, thereby potentially broadening the clinical benefit to patients suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia.
About PureTech Health
PureTech is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercialising highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, including intractable cancers, lymphatic and gastrointestinal diseases, central nervous system disorders and inflammatory and immunological diseases, among others. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through the expertise of its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. This pipeline, which is being advanced both internally and through PureTech’s Founded Entities, is comprised of 24 products and product candidates, including two that have been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). All of the underlying programmes and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of product candidates were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key validation points based on the Company’s unique insights into the biology of the brain, immune and gut, or BIG, systems and the interface between those systems, referred to as the BIG Axis.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on Twitter @puretechh.
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