Nested Therapeutics Strengthens Board of Directors with Appointment of New Chair and Directors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nested Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a next-generation precision medicine platform to address hard-to-treat cancers, today announced the appointment of three members to its board of directors: John A. Orwin, current president and chief executive officer of Atreca, who will assume the role of board chair; Anna Berkenblit, M.D., a hematologist/oncologist who was most recently chief medical officer at ImmunoGen; and Tom Frohlich, who was most recently chief operating officer at Chinook Therapeutics.

"The expansion of our board of directors is exemplary of the meaningful progress we've made in the last three years and our near-term evolution to a clinical-stage company developing the next generation of transformative precision oncology therapies," said Darrin Miles, chief executive officer of Nested. "Anna, John and Tom each brings a diversified skillset spanning biopharma entrepreneurship, operational and commercial expertise, and deep oncology drug development experience. We look forward to partnering with them as we continue to build our pipeline and advance our first program into the clinic this year."

"Nested's pipeline of high value, highly novel programs and targets is truly impressive, as are the team and culture that have been built in such a short period time," said Mr. Orwin. "I am thrilled to take on this new role as chair of the company's board of directors and look forward to working with the team as they advance their groundbreaking medicines to and through the clinic."

Mr. Orwin currently serves as president and CEO of Atreca, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, and is on the board of directors of Travere Therapeutics, Cargo Therapeutics (board chair) and AnaptysBio (board chair). He was previously the CEO of Relypsa until its acquisition by Galenica, CEO of Affymax, and on the board of directors of Array BioPharma and Seagen. In building successful businesses and commercializing a range of blockbuster products, Mr. Orwin has held leadership roles in marketing, sales, and operations for Genentech, Johnson & Johnson, Alza Pharmaceuticals, Sangstat Medical Corporation, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, and Schering-Plough Corporation. Mr. Orwin holds a master's degree in business administration from New York University and a bachelor's degree from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Dr. Berkenblit has more than 20 years of experience in clinical development of novel anticancer therapies in the life science industry. Most recently, she served as chief medical officer at ImmunoGen where she led the development of the company's novel, wholly owned product candidates. Prior to ImmunoGen, Dr. Berkenblit was senior vice president, clinical development at H3 Biomedicine, and vice president, head of clinical research at AVEO Oncology before that. Dr. Berkenblit also held positions of increasing responsibility at Wyeth/Pfizer, becoming vice president, neratinib asset team leader in the Pfizer Oncology Business Unit. She earned an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and an M.M.Sc. in the clinical investigator training program at Harvard/MIT Health Sciences & Technology. Dr. Berkenblit completed her internship and residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and went on to a hematology/oncology fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She also led the Phase I oncology clinical trial program as part of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, prior to transitioning to industry.

Mr. Frohlich brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across multinational pharmaceutical and emerging biotech companies. He co-founded Chinook Therapeutics in 2019 and served as chief operating officer until Chinook's acquisition by Novartis. Since 2018, Mr. Frohlich has also served as an operating principal and subsequently as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Versant Ventures, a healthcare investment firm. Prior to Chinook, he was vice president of business development at Arbutus Biopharma, where he played a key role in multiple transactions including the merger of Tekmira/Oncore and the spin-out of Genevant. Previously, Mr. Frohlich worked internationally at Johnson and Johnson and Merck in various roles leading commercial strategy across all stages of product development including the global launches of telaprevir and STELARA^® (ustekinumab). Mr. Frohlich has a B.Sc. in biochemistry from the University of Victoria and an MBA from the University of Oxford.

About Nested Therapeutics

Nested Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel, targeted, small molecule precision medicine therapies for patients with cancer by using mutation clusters to identify druggable pockets. With a platform that utilizes insights from genomics, computational chemistry, proteomics and AI, Nested is working to reach untapped mutations with the potential to improve outcomes for millions of patients. To learn more, visit www.nestedtx.com and follow Nested Therapeutics on Twitter (@Nestedtx) and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Nested Therapeutics Inc.