KaliVir Immunotherapeutics Establishes Clinical and Scientific Advisory Boards

Experts in oncology, immunotherapy and oncolytic viruses to help guide KaliVir's development of systemically deliverable oncolytic virus immunotherapies

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- KaliVir Immunotherapeutics, Inc., a biotech company developing cutting-edge, multi-mechanistic oncolytic viral immunotherapy programs, today announced that it has appointed the following experts to its clinical and scientific advisory boards:

• Mitesh Borad, M.D., Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
• Jorge Nieva, M.D., USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Jonathan Rosenberg, M.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Dmitriy Zamarin, M.D, Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

• Tullia Bruno, Ph.D., UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Greg Delgoffe, Ph.D. UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Michael T. Lotze, M.D., FACS, Nurix Therapeutics, Inc.
• Lisa Butterfield, Ph.D., University of San Francisco

"We are thrilled to be working with this esteemed group of clinicians and scientists as we advance our oncolytic viral immunotherapies, including our lead candidate - VET3-TGI - toward clinical development," stated Helena Chaye, Ph.D., J.D., Chief Executive Officer of KaliVir Immunotherapeutics. "These experts bring decades of relevant experience that will further bolster our team's abilities to develop the most efficient regulatory pathway for our clinical candidates while continuing to hone and grow our platform. They are trailblazers in their respective areas of research, and we will benefit from the knowledge and experience that each brings to the table."

Dr. Borad is a Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He also serves as the Director of the Cancer Cell, Gene and Virus Therapy Lab, Director of the Liver and Biliary Cancer Research Program, and Deputy Director of the Biomarker Discovery Program at the Center for Individualized Medicine at the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Nieva is the Section Head of solid tumors, division of medical oncology at the University of California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Keck Medicine of USC. He also leads the lung cancer research program and serves as chair of the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee within the cancer center. He serves as associate professor of clinical medicine at Keck School of Medicine of USC. His clinical research interests include oncolytic immunotherapy, biomarker development and informatic approaches to the evaluation of patient health. He is a standing member of the Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) to the FDA. 

Dr. Rosenberg is the Chief of Genitourinary Oncology Service in the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is a nationally respected clinician and investigator in the GU oncology space having led multiple pivotal global and national studies with an emphasis on immuno-oncology. He also works closely with laboratory investigators to correlate novel genetic biomarkers with clinical outcomes.

Dr. Zamarin is a medical oncologist in the Gynecologic Medical Oncology and Early Drug Development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His research is focused on the development of genetically engineered oncolytic viruses leading efforts in both the lab and the clinic.

Dr. Bruno is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh and a faculty member in the Tumor Microenvironment Center at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. Her research is focused on tumor immunology, specifically understanding the role of tumor-infiltrating B cells and tertiary lymphoid structures in anti-tumor immunity.

Dr. Butterfield is an Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California San Francisco, and Chair of the FDA Cellular, Tissues and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. She served in Leadership roles in the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) for 12 years, including serving as the society President from 2017 to 2018. Her research focuses on the tumor-immune system interaction in melanoma and hepatocellular cancers.

Dr. Delgoffe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh and Director of the Tumor Microenvironment Center at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. His lab focuses on the metabolic microenvironment of cancer, specifically how cancer cells create an inhospitable nutrient environment for tumor-infiltrating T cells and how this process can be reversed in order to improve the immunotherapeutic treatment of cancer.

Dr. Lotze is a Professor of Surgery, Immunology and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, as well as the Chief Cellular Therapy Officer of Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. He is a leading clinician scientist at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh with over 40 years of experience in immunology and clinical medicine, during which time he has focused on the advancement of translational research, particularly in immunotherapy for cancer including dendritic cell, T cell, and cytokine therapies.

KaliVir Immunotherapeutics is a privately held biotech company developing cutting-edge, multi-mechanistic oncolytic viral immunotherapy programs. The company has developed a unique vaccinia virus-based platform, Vaccinia Enhanced Template "VET" Platform, that can generate potent novel oncolytic vaccinia viruses with modifications to maximize viral replication and to enhance intravenous delivery and spread. VET™ platform utilizes the large transgene capacity of the vaccinia virus to deliver therapeutics matched to tumor immunophenotypes to stimulate patients' immune systems and modify the tumor microenvironment. KaliVir's oncolytic virus candidates are designed to be safe, potent and systemically deliverable to treat cancer patients across multiple tumor types. KaliVir has separate collaborations with Roche and Astellas Pharma to design and generate novel oncolytic vaccinia viruses derived from the VET™ platform. In addition, Astellas entered into a world-wide exclusive license to develop and commercialize KaliVir's initial lead clinical candidate VET2-L2 oncolytic vaccinia virus. KaliVir is currently advancing multiple therapeutic candidates toward the clinic. For more information, please visit www.kalivir.com.

Media Contact:
Michael Falcone
MacDougall Advisors
[email protected]
781-591-3448

SOURCE KaliVir Immunotherapeutics