Kyn Therapeutics Strengthens Leadership Team with Key Appointments

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kyn
Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing
highly differentiated cancer immunotherapies, today announced the
appointment of Jeffrey Ecsedy, Ph.D., as its chief scientific officer
and Jason Sager, M.D., as its chief medical officer. Dr. Ecsedy was
formerly a member of the Oncology R&D leadership team at Takeda
Pharmaceuticals as head of oncology translational medicine following
more than a decade at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Sager is a highly
distinguished clinical oncologist with over 15 years of experience in
biotech and pharma. Both executives joined Kyn in 2017, Dr. Sager
serving as the company’s interim chief medical officer and Dr. Ecsedy as
its senior vice president, R&D. Dr. Ecsedy will head the teams
responsible for discovery, non-clinical and translational sciences,
while Dr. Sager will provide leadership to Kyn’s clinical operations,
clinical development and regulatory teams.

“Jason and Jeff’s guidance and expertise have been invaluable to Kyn
through the design and execution of the two ongoing Phase 1b/2 clinical
studies of our lead candidate ARY-007, an EP4 receptor antagonist. Their
input was also essential to our delivery of important preclinical
milestones that validated the novel biology underlying our programs,”
said Mark Manfredi, Ph.D., Kyn’s president and chief executive officer.
“We are now planning entry into the clinic for our AHR and Kynase
programs, both partnered with Celgene. Jeff and Jason’s leadership will
play a critical role during this significant phase of Kyn’s growth and
development.”

“At Kyn we have leveraged our discovery, translational and clinical
development knowledge to build a differentiated pipeline, which is first
and foremost defined by patient need,” Dr. Ecsedy said. “By assembling a
multi-talented research and development team complemented by a top-tier
external scientific and clinical advisory network, we intend to drive
our existing programs forward while evaluating compelling opportunities
to expand our differentiated portfolio.”

“This is an exciting time in cancer therapeutics and the Kyn team is
doing outstanding work towards delivering multiple new advances for
patients,” Dr. Sager said. “I look forward to working together to expand
the clinical portfolio and deliver on the two current clinical studies
for ARY-007.”

Dr. Sager is a pediatric oncologist with extensive experience in
biotech, pharma and academic research. Previously, he was a senior
medical director in Sanofi’s oncology division, leading development of
an early-stage clinical portfolio. Prior to Sanofi, Dr. Sager served as
a medical director at Genentech and Novartis, where he brought multiple
drugs into the clinic and through to proof of concept. He has also
served as advisor for medical technology companies Bionaut Labs and
Privo Technologies. In addition to his biotechnology experience, Dr.
Sager has worked as a pediatric oncologist at Johns Hopkins University,
the National Cancer Institute and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He
is currently a Deshpande Center Catalyst at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, where he mentors grant recipients establishing early
stage companies. He is the founder of Sagely Health, a consultancy
focused on reducing treatment information asymmetry for cancer patients.
Dr. Sager received his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and his M.D.
from Cornell University.

Dr. Ecsedy has over 20 years of experience as a cancer researcher. Prior
to joining Kyn, Dr. Ecsedy served as the head of oncology translational
medicine at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He and his team led translational
science for a diverse portfolio of molecules spanning all stages of
development, including pre-IND activities, FIH studies, regulatory
approvals and life-cycle management. As a member of Takeda Oncology R&D
leadership, Dr. Ecsedy helped shape a renewed strategic vision for the
division. Prior to his roles at Takeda, he led numerous projects from
the discovery phase into clinical development through roles of
increasing responsibility at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Ecsedy
received a B.S. from the University of Connecticut, earned his Ph.D. in
biological sciences at Boston College and trained as a post-doctoral
fellow in genetics at Harvard Medical School.

About Kyn Therapeutics

Kyn Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing
highly differentiated cancer immunotherapies. Kyn Therapeutics is
advancing development candidates that modulate targets strongly
implicated in immunosuppression across a range of tumor types and via
multiple immune cell effects. In 2019, Kyn entered into a global
strategic collaboration with Celgene to develop novel immuno-oncology
therapies. Kyn Therapeutics is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and was
launched by OrbiMed Advisors and Atlas Venture. For more information,
visit www.kyntherapeutics.com.
Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Contacts

Tom Donovan
Ten Bridge Communications
857-559-3397
[email protected]