Aprea Therapeutics Appoints Dr. Eyal C. Attar as Chief Medical Officer
Mar 25, 2019, 06:00 ET
BOSTON and STOCKHOLM, March 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Aprea Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel anticancer therapies targeting the p53 tumor suppressor protein, today announced the appointment of Dr. Eyal C. Attar as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. A trained physician in medical hematology and oncology, Dr. Attar brings nearly 20 years of medical research and clinical development experience to Aprea.
"Dr. Attar's deep medical and biotech industry experiences will strengthen our clinical development efforts as we continue to advance our first-in-class p53 reactivating agents in late-stage clinical studies," said Christian S. Schade, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aprea Therapeutics. "His proven leadership and focus on improving outcomes for patients with limited therapeutic alternatives is an excellent fit with Aprea's determined strategy to advance novel oncology therapies."
"I am thrilled to join the Aprea team at this exciting time in the company's evolution," said Dr. Attar. "I believe Aprea's leading scientific approach in reactivating the mutated tumor suppression gene, p53, represents a new paradigm in anti-cancer treatment and a promising novel therapeutic approach for patients for whom there is tremendous need."
Dr. Attar joins Aprea from Agios Pharmaceuticals, where he was Senior Medical Director and IDH Hematology Medical Lead. Having served at Agios since 2014, Dr. Attar played a leadership role in the clinical development and approval of IDHIFA and TIBSOVO for patients with relapsed/refractory AML. Prior to Agios, he served on the clinical staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, where Dr. Attar was a member of the Center for Leukemia and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and held fellowships in hematology and oncology in the Dana-Farber Partners Cancer Care Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program. Dr. Attar received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
About Aprea Therapeutics
Aprea Therapeutics is a Boston, Massachusetts and Stockholm, Sweden based biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel anticancer compounds that reactivate the tumor suppressor protein, p53. The Company's lead drug candidate is APR-246, a first-in-class small molecule, is in clinical development for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), as well as additional hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. Aprea has commenced a Phase 3 clinical study in p53 mutated MDS and completed enrollment in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in p53 mutated high-risk MDS and oligoblastic AML with APR-246 and azacitidine. Additional Phase 1b/2 studies for APR-246 in MDS and AML are also underway and in planning together with other approved anti-cancer agents. Aprea is also developing second generation p53 reactivators that have best-in-class potential. The Company recently completed a Series C financing raising a total of approximately US$62 million. The financing round was led by the Redmile Group, with participation by Rock Springs Capital and Janus Henderson Investors, and included existing investors: 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, HealthCap, Sectoral Asset Management and Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV). For more information, please visit www.aprea.com.
About p53 and APR-246
The p53 tumor suppressor gene is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancer, occurring in over approximately 50% of all human tumors. These mutations are often associated with resistance to anti-cancer drugs and poor overall survival, representing a major unmet medical need in the treatment of cancer.
APR-246 has been shown to reactivate mutant and inactivated p53 protein – by restoring wild-type p53 conformation and function – and thereby induce programmed cell death in human cancer cells. APR-246 has demonstrated pre-clinical anti-tumor activity in a wide variety of solid and hematological tumors. Additionally, strong synergy has been seen with both traditional anti-cancer agents, such as chemotherapy, as well as newer mechanism-based anti-cancer drugs and immuno-oncology checkpoint inhibitors. In addition to pre-clinical testing, clinical studies with APR-246 have demonstrated a favorable safety profile and both biological and confirmed clinical responses in hematological malignancies and solid tumors with mutations in the TP53 gene.
Corporate Contacts:
Christian S. Schade
President and Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
Gregory A. Korbel
Vice President of Business Development
[email protected]
SOURCE Aprea Therapeutics AB