MUNICH & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CatalYm today announced the appointment of Scott Clarke as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Clarke brings over two decades of executive leadership experience in driving company growth, developing products, and shaping and executing transactions in the biopharmaceutical industry. He takes the helm as CatalYm enters a new stage of corporate and clinical development, including the initiation of a broad Phase 2b program for its lead candidate, visugromab, in non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer and additional tumor indications. Based in the US, he will oversee both EU and US operations.
“Scott Clarke is a fantastic addition to CatalYm’s leadership team. The company is in a strong position following its oversubscribed $150 million Series D financing and its recent publication in Nature of positive visugromab data. These events provide significant momentum for Scott’s start as CEO,” said Jon Edwards, Interim Chair of CatalYm’s Board of Directors. “We are confident that his experience in oncology and partnering will be a substantial asset as we initiate CatalYm’s broad Phase 2b program with visugromab in hard-to-treat, metastatic solid tumor indications.”
“I am impressed by CatalYm’s compelling clinical data demonstrating that visugromab is uniquely positioned as a novel cancer treatment capable of reversing key resistance mechanisms and reinstating an efficient anti-tumor response,” said Scott Clarke, Chief Executive Officer at CatalYm. “I am very excited to join the CatalYm team at such a pivotal stage. I am committed to realizing visugromab’s potential to deliver unprecedented cancer remission depth and durability for patients with very limited therapeutic options.”
Scott Clarke joins CatalYm from Ambagon Therapeutics, where he oversaw the company’s $85 million Series A financing and the evolution of its discovery pipeline of molecular glues. Previously, he served as CEO at Tizona Therapeutics, overseeing significant transactions and the development of its first-in-class anti-CD39 antibody for advanced cancers. Earlier in his career, he led oncology partnering at Roche, and was responsible for product development at BioMarin, contributing to multiple approved medicines. Mr. Clarke earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Science in Biotechnology at Northwestern University, and an MBA at London Business School.
About CatalYm
CatalYm is developing visugromab, a first-in-class anti-GDF-15 antibody, in solid tumors and other indications. In its first-in-human Phase 1/2a study, visugromab demonstrated durable anti-tumor efficacy with long-lasting objective responses in relapsed and refractory metastatic solid tumor patients in combination with anti-PD-1 treatment. In addition, data from the same study demonstrated that visugromab can significantly counteract the effects of cachexia in these patients. This data was recently published in Nature and presented at the International Conference on Sarcopenia, Cachexia & Wasting Disorders. CatalYm is now advancing visugromab into multiple Phase 2b studies.
Founded in 2016 and based in Munich, Germany and San Francisco, USA, CatalYm is backed by leading international investors including Canaan Partners, Bioqube Ventures, Forbion, Omega Funds, Gilde Healthcare, Jeito Capital, Novartis Venture Fund, Vesalius, Brandon Capital, Bayern Kapital, BioGeneration Ventures, and Coparion.
