Targazyme Appoints Jim Caggiano as CEO

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Sep 11, 2020, 08:00 ET

CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Targazyme Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel fucosyltransferase enzyme technologies and products to improve clinical efficacy, safety, and cost of care outcomes for immuno-oncology and stem cell transplantation, announced today that it has recruited cancer immunotherapy industry veteran James Caggiano to be the CEO, focused initially on its oncology business.

A former US Army Officer, Jim Caggiano brings nearly 30 years of immuno-oncology, pharmaceutical, and medical device experience at successful companies such as TAP Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, Abbott Laboratories, Valeant, and Dendreon. As President at Valeant, Caggiano led the successful business turnaround of Dendreon, doubled the value of Dendreon by selling it to Sanpower Group for $820M, and became its CEO. Under his leadership, Dendreon earned over $100M in EBIT in 2018 and 2019.

"We welcome Jim Caggiano to our Targazyme team and look forward to his leadership with advancing our oncology assets to making a life-changing difference for cancer patients and their families worldwide," said Lynnet Koh, Targazyme's Founder and Executive Chairman of Targazyme. "Caggiano brings a track record of delivering major shareholder value through successful execution of sell-side deal transactions and driving major commercial revenue growth. His military leadership skills positions the company for consistently delivering on key milestones on time and on budget."

"I'm honored to join Targazyme at this exciting and pivotal time in its history," said Caggiano. "I look forward to working with the team here to capitalize on the impressive results of the past and to move these very promising, life-saving therapies forward, ultimately enhancing the lives of cancer patients."

About Targazyme

Targazyme Inc. is a San Diego-based, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel enzyme-based platform technologies and products focusing initially on improving clinical efficacy, safety, and cost of care outcomes for cancer immunotherapy and stem cell transplantation. The company also has promising programs in autoimmune diseases, gene therapy, and regenerative medicine.

The Company's clinical-grade fucosyltransferase enzymes and small molecule products (TZ-101 and TZ-102) are off-the-shelf products used during the centralized manufacturing process or the point-of-care to treat therapeutic cells before their infusion into patients. Data generated at leading cancer centers show that the fucosylation process of therapeutic cells such as T and NK cells improves their homing to the cancer tumor micro-environment, increases T and NK cell intra-tumor penetration and enhances the cytotoxicity of immune cells for increased cancer tumor killing and better patient outcomes.

The Company has received worldwide patents, multiple FDA orphan drug designations, has an open investigational new drug application (IND) with multiple ongoing clinical studies and a Phase 3 Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) with the FDA, and many major medical/scientific awards and grants.

Targazyme has partnerships and collaborations with Kyowa Hakko Kirin and Florida Biologix, and various medical research institutions including the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, and Einstein Medical Center.

Others include Duke University Medical Center, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Texas Transplant Institute, Case Western/University Hospitals, Scripps Hospitals, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UCLA Medical Center, Stanford University Medical Center, University of Minnesota Medical Center, University of California San Diego, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Indiana University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and New York Blood Center.

Learn more at www.targazyme.com

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Targazyme Inc.