BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kyn Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing highly differentiated cancer immunotherapies, today announced the appointment of Jeffrey Ecsedy, Ph.D., as its chief scientific officer and Jason Sager, M.D., as its chief medical officer. Dr. Ecsedy was formerly a member of the Oncology R&D leadership team at Takeda Pharmaceuticals as head of oncology translational medicine following more than a decade at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Sager is a highly distinguished clinical oncologist with over 15 years of experience in biotech and pharma. Both executives joined Kyn in 2017, Dr. Sager serving as the company’s interim chief medical officer and Dr. Ecsedy as its senior vice president, R&D. Dr. Ecsedy will head the teams responsible for discovery, non-clinical and translational sciences, while Dr. Sager will provide leadership to Kyn’s clinical operations, clinical development and regulatory teams.
“Jason and Jeff’s guidance and expertise have been invaluable to Kyn through the design and execution of the two ongoing Phase 1b/2 clinical studies of our lead candidate ARY-007, an EP4 receptor antagonist. Their input was also essential to our delivery of important preclinical milestones that validated the novel biology underlying our programs,” said Mark Manfredi, Ph.D., Kyn’s president and chief executive officer. “We are now planning entry into the clinic for our AHR and Kynase programs, both partnered with Celgene. Jeff and Jason’s leadership will play a critical role during this significant phase of Kyn’s growth and development.”
“At Kyn we have leveraged our discovery, translational and clinical development knowledge to build a differentiated pipeline, which is first and foremost defined by patient need,” Dr. Ecsedy said. “By assembling a multi-talented research and development team complemented by a top-tier external scientific and clinical advisory network, we intend to drive our existing programs forward while evaluating compelling opportunities to expand our differentiated portfolio.”
“This is an exciting time in cancer therapeutics and the Kyn team is doing outstanding work towards delivering multiple new advances for patients,” Dr. Sager said. “I look forward to working together to expand the clinical portfolio and deliver on the two current clinical studies for ARY-007.”
Dr. Sager is a pediatric oncologist with extensive experience in biotech, pharma and academic research. Previously, he was a senior medical director in Sanofi’s oncology division, leading development of an early-stage clinical portfolio. Prior to Sanofi, Dr. Sager served as a medical director at Genentech and Novartis, where he brought multiple drugs into the clinic and through to proof of concept. He has also served as advisor for medical technology companies Bionaut Labs and Privo Technologies. In addition to his biotechnology experience, Dr. Sager has worked as a pediatric oncologist at Johns Hopkins University, the National Cancer Institute and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is currently a Deshpande Center Catalyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he mentors grant recipients establishing early stage companies. He is the founder of Sagely Health, a consultancy focused on reducing treatment information asymmetry for cancer patients. Dr. Sager received his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. from Cornell University.
Dr. Ecsedy has over 20 years of experience as a cancer researcher. Prior to joining Kyn, Dr. Ecsedy served as the head of oncology translational medicine at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He and his team led translational science for a diverse portfolio of molecules spanning all stages of development, including pre-IND activities, FIH studies, regulatory approvals and life-cycle management. As a member of Takeda Oncology R&D leadership, Dr. Ecsedy helped shape a renewed strategic vision for the division. Prior to his roles at Takeda, he led numerous projects from the discovery phase into clinical development through roles of increasing responsibility at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Ecsedy received a B.S. from the University of Connecticut, earned his Ph.D. in biological sciences at Boston College and trained as a post-doctoral fellow in genetics at Harvard Medical School.
About Kyn Therapeutics
Kyn Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing highly differentiated cancer immunotherapies. Kyn Therapeutics is advancing development candidates that modulate targets strongly implicated in immunosuppression across a range of tumor types and via multiple immune cell effects. In 2019, Kyn entered into a global strategic collaboration with Celgene to develop novel immuno-oncology therapies. Kyn Therapeutics is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and was launched by OrbiMed Advisors and Atlas Venture. For more information, visit www.kyntherapeutics.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
