CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#BoD—Platelet
BioGenesis (PBG), the leader in stem cell-derived, on-demand human
platelets (PLTs+™) and platelet-based therapeutics, announced today the
addition of Dr. Richard Murray, president and CEO of Jounce
Therapeutics, to its board of directors. An industry veteran, Dr. Murray
has led Jounce since 2014, prior to which he served in multiple notable
leadership roles, including senior vice president, biologics & vaccines
research at Merck & Co. Inc. Jounce, based in Cambridge, is a publicly
traded, clinical stage company focused on novel cancer immunotherapies.
“Rich’s expertise will be invaluable as we advance our PLT+™ platform
toward IND and continue to explore the power of designer platelets as a
novel approach to immuno-oncology treatment,” said Jonathan Thon, Ph.D.,
PBG co-founder and CEO. “In addition to oncology and immunotherapy
knowledge, Rich’s experience as a senior leader of biopharma companies
of all sizes and his alignment with our culture make him an incredibly
valuable resource to our growing team.”
PBG is working to create a new class of cancer treatments based on stem
cell-derived designer platelets that produce powerful biologics, such as
anticancer drugs, and which can deliver those drugs directly to the site
of malignancy.
“The potential for designer platelets as a novel means of improving the
efficacy and safety of cancer treatments is a very exciting approach for
the field,” said Dr. Murray. “I admire the work PBG has already done
developing its platform and team and I appreciate the opportunity to
contribute to this innovative company.”
Prior to his executive positions with Jounce and Merck, Dr. Murray
provided strategic guidance to protein therapeutic biotech companies and
served as an advisor to venture capital and life science investors. He
was the executive vice president and chief scientific officer at PDL
BioPharma and was co-founder and vice president of research at EOS
Biotechnology, which was acquired in 2003 by Protein Design Labs.
About Platelet BioGenesis
Platelet BioGenesis is a
venture-backed, development stage biotech company creating the world’s
first donor-independent source of platelets to address the chronic
platelet shortage that affects patients worldwide. The company has
developed and patented a scalable cGMP-compliant process to generate
platelets from human induced pluripotent stem cells. Based in Cambridge,
Mass., Platelet BioGenesis is also developing designer platelets
(PLTs+™), a new class of therapeutics to treat cancer and other
life-threatening diseases. The company was spun out of Harvard
University and has received funding from the Massachusetts
Life Sciences Center, the National
Institutes of Health and the U.S.
Department of Defense. Learn more at plateletbiogenesis.com
and follow us on Twitter @plateletbio.
Contacts
Jeff Krasner
Emerging BioCommunications
(617) 840-9806
jeff@emergingbio.net