EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eureka Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing novel T-cell immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors, announced today that Hideho Okada, M.D., Ph.D., and Nai-Kong V. Cheung, M.D., have joined the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Okada, a pioneer in cancer immunotherapy, is a Kathleen M. Plant Distinguished Professor in Neurological Surgery and an investigator at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He brings to the board over 20 years of extensive knowledge in the research and development of effective immunotherapies for brain tumors. His team conducted one of the first immunotherapy trials in patients with malignant glioma and was also one of the first to discover cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes in glioma-associated and glioma-specific antigens, pioneering the discoveries of novel immunoregulatory mechanisms in gliomas. He has translated these discoveries into a number of innovative immunotherapy clinical studies, in both adult and pediatric brain tumor patients.
Dr. Cheung is the Enid A. Haupt Endowed Chair in Pediatric Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He received his B.Sc. degree from the University of Chicago, as well as M.D. and Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Cheung studied suppressor T cells and B cell tolerance under the mentorship of Dr. Baruj Benacerraf, the 1980 Nobel Laureate in Medicine. Upon completing his training in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stanford University Medical Center, Dr. Cheung devoted his career to translational science with a clinical focus on neuroblastoma, and research focused on antibody-based therapies. His work has changed the outlook for children with high-risk metastatic neuroblastoma, including those with central nervous system metastases.
“Dr. Okada and Dr. Cheung are recognized leaders in the field of immunology and will enrich our Scientific Advisory Board with unique perspectives as we further our efforts in developing innovative treatments,” said Dr. Cheng Liu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eureka Therapeutics. “The clinical expertise and experience in drug development that Dr. Okada and Dr. Cheung both possess will be invaluable as we head into the next phase of our growth.”
Dr. Okada is an elected member in the American Society for Clinical Investigation, an honored society for physicians who promote laboratory science to the clinic. He also currently serves as the Chair of the Immunotherapy Subgroup at the NCI-sponsored Adult Brain Tumor Consortium and is a committee member of Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy in Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. He is passionate about integrating advancements in basic brain immunology, biology and immunology of brain tumors, studying the interface of systemic and local immune responses to overcome challenges in current clinical trials. Dr. Cheung’s current research is directed at target discovery, antibody humanization and engineering, as well as novel platform technologies tailored for fast clinical translation for cancers in children and young adults.
About Eureka Therapeutics, Inc.
Eureka Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area, focused on developing first-in-class T cell immunotherapies for hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Its core technology platforms center around the discovery and engineering of fully human antibodies against intracellular targets via the MHCI complex. The company is developing a pipeline of novel cancer therapeutics targeting intracellular oncogenes.
For more information, please visit: www.eurekainc.com.
