SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a new class of T cell engaging therapeutics, announced today that it has appointed Natalie R. Sacks, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Sacks as our new Chief Medical Offer. Natalie brings a strong record of accomplishment in the development and commercialization of oncology therapeutics, which will be instrumental as we advance our pipeline in the clinic,” said Jerry McMahon, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Harpoon.
“As an oncologist, I look forward to joining a company that is pioneering new ways to treat cancer and impact the lives of patients in need,” says Dr. Sacks. “I am excited about the potential of Harpoon’s clinical programs and its novel TriTAC™ platform to redirect a patient’s own T cells to attack tumor cells.”
Dr. Sacks most recently served as Chief Medical Officer of Aduro Biotech, a company focused on the advancement of novel immuno-oncology technologies. Previously, she was Vice President of Clinical Development at Onyx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Amgen) where she played a key role in the development and approval of Kyprolis®, an FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma, and in business development strategy. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Clinical Research for Exelixis where she directed the development of a portfolio of small molecules, with responsibilities ranging from IND filings to late-stage development, including development of Cometriq™. Earlier in her career, Dr. Sacks served as Vice President of Clinical Development at Cell Genesys, a company focused on the development of cancer vaccines and engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells. She received her M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, her M.S. in Biostatistics from the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health and her B.A. in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College. Dr. Sacks was an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and served as volunteer Attending Physician in Hematology-Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital for more than a decade. She serves as a board member for Zymeworks Inc. and Caribou Biosciences.
About Harpoon Therapeutics
Harpoon Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a novel class of T cell engagers to treat patients suffering from cancer and other diseases. Product candidates from Harpoon Therapeutics's T cell redirection platform, TriTAC (Tri-specific T-cell Activating Construct), are designed to leverage the targeted cell-killing properties of a patient's own immune system through T cell activation. This approach has been designed to potentially overcome the limitations of existing immunotherapies to penetrate tissues and extend serum exposure. The company has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial for its lead candidate HPN424, a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting TriTAC, and expects to file an investigational new drug application for HPN536, a mesothelin-targeting TriTAC in the near future. For more information, please visit www.harpoontx.com.