PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tmunity Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has named Usman “Oz” Azam, M.D., to the new post of President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Azam will help to deliver the company’s vision to discover, develop, manufacture and market treatments that unleash the immunological potential of T cells to treat a wide variety of diseases. A veteran life sciences executive, Dr. Azam was most recently the Global Head of the Cell & Gene Therapies Unit at Novartis.
“With extensive U.S. and international pharmaceutical industry background, including key roles in science, clinical development, regulatory affairs and commercial activities, Oz brings the ideal skill set and breadth of perspective to Tmunity as we move our first T cell receptor and CAR programs toward the clinic,” said Carl H. June, M.D., co-founder and chief scientific advisor of Tmunity Therapeutics. “Oz shares our vision to make Tmunity the global leader in transforming the latest insights about T cell biology and T cell engineering into potentially curative therapies for patients.”
“I have had the opportunity to pursue the development of novel drugs and biologics for nearly 20 years but I have never been more excited about the potential we have at Tmunity to make a significant contribution to the treatment of cancer, HIV, and autoimmune disease by delivering the promise of T cell medicine,” said Dr. Azam. “To do so, we are creating a business model that rapidly and seamlessly integrates research, translational medicine, manufacturing science, quality by design, clinical development, and customer centric approaches to foster further successful commercial adoption of cell and gene therapies.”
As the Global Head of the Cell & Gene Therapies Unit at Novartis, Dr. Azam also served as a member of the Pharmaceutical Executive Committee. His previous roles at Novartis included Head of Global Medical Affairs & HEOR General Medicines, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of U.S. Clinical Development & Medical Affairs, and Global Head Regulatory Affairs for the Neurosciences & Ophthalmic Franchise. Before joining Novartis, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Novaccel Therapeutics LLC, a company he founded to accelerate assets in the translational medicine setting. Prior to that he served as Chief Medical Officer at Aspreva Pharmaceutics Inc., a company that focused on orphan and rare autoimmune disease states which was acquired by Galenica SA in 2008. His earlier career included positions at Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson Ethicon, and Warner Lambert-Parke Davis. Dr. Azam is a graduate of the University of Liverpool School of Medicine and is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology in the United Kingdom.
About Tmunity Therapeutics
Tmunity Therapeutics, headquartered in Philadelphia, and co-founded by the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), the Perelman School of Medicine at Penn and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, is focused on unleashing the immunological potential of T cells to treat a wide range of diseases. Tmunity is developing novel T Cell Receptor (TCR) engineered T cells, regulatory T cells (Treg), universal engineered T cell platforms, and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) therapies that exhibit best-in-class control over T cell activation and direction in vivo, as well as proprietary technologies to activate, expand, and genetically engineer T cells from peripheral blood, cord blood and tumors. The company is rapidly advancing personalized next-generation immunotherapies for oncology, infectious diseases and autoimmune disease toward the clinic. Founded by internationally renowned experts in the field, Tmunity is building a team that has demonstrated an unparalleled track record in T cell biology, manufacturing science, regulatory affairs, and clinical development of cell and gene therapies. In addition, Tmunity has secured its own manufacturing facility in Norristown, PA, that will enable process improvement and production scale-up to support future multi-center clinical studies across diverse therapeutic indications. For more information, visit www.tmunity.com.
