Molecular Response Appoints the Former Head of Translational Medicine Oncology at MedImmune/AstraZeneca, Brett Hall, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Molecular Response, LLC (MRL), a privately held and formally focused molecular diagnostic services and therapeutic target identification company, announced today the appointment of Brett M. Hall, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer.  In this new role, Dr. Hall will spearhead the repositioning of Molecular Response into a drug development company, Molecular Response Therapeutics, whose primary focus will be to identify and develop novel agents that disrupt tumor cell interactions with permissive host tumor microenvironments.

"We are excited to welcome Dr. Hall and are confident that his pharmaceutical drug development experience at MedImmune (AstraZeneca) and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) will enhance our world-class tumor biobank and oncology target identification enterprise.  His expertise in translational medicine, oncology drug development and advanced tumor microenvironment modeling will be invaluable for the next chapter of Molecular Response. During his tenures at MedImmune and Janssen, he expanded and led dynamic translational teams that focused on biomarker discovery and development, market segmentation and companion diagnostics.  He oversaw the translational development for over 20 oncology drug programs ranging from late discovery through early and late clinical development.  In addition, he directly led translational efforts for two recently FDA approved drugs, siltuximab (Sylvant) and ibrutinib (Imbruvica)," said Dr. Masood Tayebi, Executive Chairman for the Company. "Dr. Hall brings extensive working knowledge in translational medicine and a scientific background that will support our research and drug development efforts.  His broad drug development experience will be a great asset as we reposition Molecular Response into a drug development company."

"Molecular Response has built, from one of the world's largest living human tumor biobanks, an impressive foundation of patient-derived tumor models that more accurately reflect the biology of human cancer.  When combined with patient-matched molecular and pharmacology data, we will be in a strong position to create an extraordinary drug portfolio using patient aligned, computationally guided models.  I applaud the work and efforts of those who established the core tumor modeling platforms here at Molecular Response.  Those efforts have made this next endeavor possible.  Dedicated drug development guided by humanized tumor models has been a dream of mine for well over a decade, and I am appreciative to the board members who have placed confidence in my ability to lead novel drug development efforts here at Molecular Response Therapeutics," said Dr. Hall.

About Brett M. Hall, Ph.D. 

Dr. Hall is a U.S. Air Force veteran and former investment banker (Series 6 and 63).  He obtained his BS from the Ohio State University (biochemistry), and PhD from West Virginia University, studying how the tumor microenvironment affects tumor growth, metastasis and survival. He did his post-doctoral work at St. Jude Children's Hospital (Memphis, TN) and Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, OH), studying the impact of immune cells and cytokines on the tumor microenvironment.  He accepted a tenure track faculty position at Ohio State University, where his lab focused on 3D tumor-stromal cell modeling in pharmacologically relevant human tumor microenvironments.  He led the design, development and operation of a multi million-dollar small animal imaging core facility at Nationwide Children's Hospital, the pediatric division of Ohio State University.  He then transitioned to Janssen, LLC (the pharmaceutical division of J&J) where he led the European translational medicine group and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) biomarker efforts (Beerse, Belgium).  He relocated, within J&J, to the U.S. in 2011 to head the Hematologic Oncology Disease Area Stronghold (Heme DAS) group, where he oversaw 8 clinical assets and helped register two drugs (siltuximab; an anti-IL-6 mAB and ibrutinib; a small molecule BTK inhibitor).  Dr. Hall has over 35 publications and has been recognized for direct translational support and contributing to the successful acquisition and partnering of multiple drugs, including Ibrutinib (small molecule BTK inhibitor - multiple hematologic cancer indications), Daratumumab (anti-CD38 mAb - multiple myeloma), and CSL362 (anti-CD123 mAb – acute myeloid leukemia).  In 2014, Dr. Hall transitioned to MedImmune (a subsidiary of AstraZeneca), where he led the Oncology Translational Medicine group with a portfolio of over 15 oncology drugs at various stages of clinical and pre-clinical development.

About Molecular Response

Molecular Response is dedicated to the identification and advancement of high value therapeutics through intelligently designed, patient-derived tumor models. Our goal is to capitalize on advanced human biologic platforms with clinically relevant molecular response and biomarker data to accelerate novel or improved therapeutic drug development processes and programs; Our approach will allow for the most informed decisions with best chance of success to advance therapeutic programs. For additional information please visit www.molecularresponse.com.

SOURCE Molecular Response

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