PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CEO?src=hash" target="_blank"gt;#CEOlt;/agt;–Xcovery
Holdings, Inc., an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company, today
announced the appointment of Li Mao, M.D., as Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) and Giovanni Selvaggi, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). With
more than 50 years of clinical experience in oncology between them, Dr.
Mao and Dr. Selvaggi will oversee the clinical development of ensartinib
and vorolanib, Xcovery’s two leading drug candidates currently in a
global Phase 3 trial for ALK positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
and in a Phase 1/2 trial in combination with immune-oncology (IO) agents
for thoracic cancer, respectively.
“Following a thorough and rigorous process, the Board has unanimously
elected Li as the CEO of Xcovery,” said Lieming Ding, M.D., Chairman of
Xcovery’s Board of Directors. “He will bring deep expertise in oncology,
unwavering commitment to patients, and strong track record of building
high performing organizations to his new role. I am confident that under
Li’s leadership, Xcovery will continue to expand its impact in oncology.”
“I am humbled and privileged to be the CEO of Xcovery,” said Dr. Mao.
“This is an extraordinary company of talented people with incomparable
passion and dedication to helping patients. I look forward to working
with our talented team to build on what we’ve accomplished, to deliver
on the promise of our innovative programs and to make a real difference
for our patients.”
Prior to joining Xcovery, Dr. Mao was Vice President and Head of the
Johnson & Johnson China Lung Cancer Center. Before that, he acted as a
Professor and Chair of Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences,
and Associate Dean for Research at University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Dr. Mao has also served as Leader, Experimental Therapeutics Program in
the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center. Previously, he was a
Professor in the Department of Thoracic and Head & Neck Medical Oncology
at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he is
currently an Adjunct Professor. Dr. Mao has played a critical role in a
number of landmark multi-institution research programs, and has authored
and co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles cited more than
24,000 times.
“We are also pleased to welcome Giovanni to the Xcovery team as he
brings broad oncology drug development expertise and strong leadership
skills,” Dr. Ding added. “His recent experience in spearheading the
clinical development of ceritinib (Zykadia) at Novartis and leading the
immunotherapy program at Bristol-Myers Squibb in thoracic malignancies
will be invaluable to us as we work to not only bring ensartinib over
the finish line, but also explore synergies in the ever-changing
scenario of combination therapies for vorolanib.”
“It is a very exciting time to be joining Xcovery as Chief Medical
Officer,” stated Dr. Selvaggi. “I am very encouraged by the clinical
progress to date and look forward to building on this work in the
ongoing and future clinical trials. Xcovery is uniquely positioned to
make meaningful impact on oncology with ensartinib having the potential
to be the best in class in first line therapy for ALK positive NSCLC
patients, and vorolanib being tested in various combination trials with
anti PD-1 agents. I look forward to working with my colleagues to
advance our programs and to help cancer patients to live longer and
better lives.”
Dr. Selvaggi held positions of increasing responsibility at various
global pharmaceutical companies prior to joining Xcovery. He joined the
pharmaceutical industry in 2010 as a medical director at GlaxoSmithKline
in the MAGE-A3 cancer vaccine lung program. He then played an
instrumental role in the successful development and registration of
ceritinib (Zykadia) at Novartis in ALK translocated NSCLC. Most
recently, Dr. Selvaggi was a part of the immunotherapy team at
Bristol-Myers Squibb as Program Lead in different thoracic malignancies
with a focus on SCLC. Dr. Selvaggi received his medical degree at the
University of Torino Medical School in 1992 and served as staff
physician of Thoracic Oncology at the University Hospital in Torino,
Italy, participating in several clinical trials in lung cancer and
mesothelioma over a span of 16 years.
About Xcovery
Xcovery is a biopharmaceutical company working
to improve the lives of patients with cancer by discovering medicines to
fight advanced tumors. Xcovery is developing a pipeline of oncology
therapies to target a wide range of advanced tumors. For more
information, visit www.xcovery.com.
Forward‐Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward‐looking statements that are based on company management’s
current beliefs and expectations and are subject to currently unknown
information, risks and circumstances and actual results may vary from
what is being currently projected.
Contacts
Company Contact:
Kevin Sang
Chief Operating Officer
(561)
835-9356
kevin.sang@xcovery.com
Media Contact:
Lauren Arnold or Stefanie Tuck
MacDougall
(781)
235‐3060
larnold@macbiocom.com,
stuck@macbiocom.com