Avenge Bio Appoints Douglas Carlson as Chief Operating and Financial Officer

NATICK, Mass., Feb. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Avenge Bio, Inc., ("Avenge" or the "Company") a biotechnology company developing the LOCOcyte™ immunotherapy platform for the precision administration of potent immune effector molecules to treat solid tumors, today announced the appointment of Douglas Carlson as its Chief Operating and Financial Officer. The expansion of Avenge Bio's leadership team is a key step in the Company's growth as it continues the advancement of the lead therapeutic candidate, AVB-001, into the clinic for the treatment of metastatic peritoneal cancers.

"Avenge Bio is in a period of significant growth following our recent financing and Doug will play a vital role in implementing and executing our long-term strategy," said Michael Heffernan, Chief Executive Officer of Avenge. "Having worked previously with Doug, I'm confident he will be an invaluable addition to the Avenge team as he has extensive company building experience across a range of company sizes including early-stage oncology. I am looking forward to working with him to drive our programs through development, including advancing our lead program into the clinic."

"I am thrilled to be joining the Avenge team at such an important time for the Company," said Mr. Carlson.  "I share the team's passion for developing novel treatments for patients with little to no treatment options. With Avenge's experienced leadership team and advanced LOCOcyte™ platform technology, the Company is well positioned to become a leader in cancer immunotherapy treatment."

Douglas Carlson brings over 20 years of experience with a multi-disciplinary background in corporate finance, venture capital, M&A, business development and commercial operations with both large and emerging growth healthcare companies. Most recently he was the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Ikena Oncology, Inc. At Ikena, he raised over $260M in private and public capital, led the company's Initial Public Offering (IPO) in March 2021, and built a robust infrastructure to hire and integrate over 50 new employees. Mr. Carlson previously worked at Collegium Pharmaceutical and held numerous roles as Vice President, Commercial Operations and Vice President Corporate Strategy & Business Development from 2013 to 2019. At Collegium, he was a member of the management team that led its transformation from a private, clinical stage company with approximately 15 employees to a publicly traded, commercial business with over 300 employees. Prior to joining Collegium, Mr. Carlson was Senior Director of Business Development at BTG International, Inc. where he was responsible for global specialty pharmaceutical M&A and licensing. Prior to BTG, Mr. Carlson was Senior Director and Head of U.S. Business Development for Lundbeck A/S. Mr. Carlson was Director of Corporate Development and M&A at Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he played an integral role in the sale of Ovation to Lundbeck in 2009. Prior to Ovation, Mr. Carlson was an Associate in the healthcare group at Pequot Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pequot Capital Management, Inc. Mr. Carlson started his career in the healthcare investing banking group of Cowen & Co. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

About Avenge Bio

Avenge Bio, Inc. ("Avenge") is an oncology-focused biotechnology company developing transformative cell-based immunotherapeutic products for the treatment of intractable solid tumors by incorporating its LOCOcyte™ platform. The LOCOcyte™ platform leverages proprietary engineered cells delivered to the local tumor environment that generate high concentrations of immune effector molecules in proximity to the tumor. This initiates a robust, local and durable systemic immune response while avoiding toxicities associated with systemic immunotherapies. Avenge's most advanced product candidate, AVB-001, produces native IL-2 immunotherapy and is initially being studied in metastatic peritoneal cancers such as ovarian cancer. Avenge has additional pipeline candidates for the treatment of a wide range of cancers including pancreatic, lung and breast cancers. Avenge was founded in 2019 based upon technology developed in the laboratory of Omid Veiseh, Ph.D. and has an exclusive license from Rice University for this technology. In January 2022, Avenge announced the closing of a $45 million Series A financing co-led by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund and CAM Capital, with participation from sole seed investor Longitude Capital and new investors Rock Springs Capital, and Pappas Capital. To learn more about Avenge visit www.avengebio.com.

SOURCE Avenge Bio, Inc.