Heat Biologics Appoints Chief Medical Advisor, Senior Director of Clinical Development
Seasoned oncology executives poised to lead company into next phase of clinical development of innovative vaccines to combat cancers and other diseases
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – (Nov. 28, 2011) – Heat Biologics, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, announces two senior executive appointments: Sandra Silberman, M.D., PhD, as chief medical advisor and Jennifer Harris, PharmD, as senior director of clinical development. Dr. Silberman was also named to Heat’s Scientific Advisory Board, which advises the company on current and future research and clinical testing.
As chief medical advisor, Dr. Silberman will help oversee the design and operation of clinical trials of Heat’s novel off-the-shelf ImPACT therapeutic vaccines to combat a wide range of cancers and infectious diseases. Previously, she served as senior director for Novartis clinical research, where she led the global development of Gleevec™. Dr. Silberman also served as president and chief medical officer of Archer Biosciences and associate vice president of oncology at Eisai, Inc., where she advanced six novel compounds into different phases of clinical development. Dr. Silberman received her medical degree from Cornell University and a PhD in medicine and tumor immunology from The John Hopkins University.
With more than 20 years of oncology-focused clinical trial experience, Dr. Harris is responsible for overseeing management and clinical development of products built upon Heat’s ImPACT technology. Prior to joining Heat, she was the medical science liaison for Dendreon Corporation. Dr. Harris previously served as the senior director, oncology drug development, at NovaQuest, as well as a program director within oncology R&D at GlaxoSmithKline. She received her bachelor of science in pharmacy and doctor of pharmacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“Heat is fortunate to add the caliber, expertise and leadership of Dr. Silberman and Dr. Harris to our team,” said Jeffrey Wolf, CEO, Heat Biologics (www.heatbio.com). “Their impeccable backgrounds, training and deep expertise in oncology and immunology will be instrumental in guiding our future efforts as we expand our clinical pipeline with a wide range of ImPACT-based drugs.”
Heat is currently in Phase II clinical trials with its lead drug, HS-110, for use against non-small cell lung cancer. Built on Heat’s ImPACT technology, HS-110 is a vaccine therapy that reprograms live tumor cells to continually pump out antigens that mobilize and activate killer T cells against the targeted cancer.
About Heat Biologics
Heat Biologics (www.heatbio.com) is a clinical-stage company focused on developing its novel off-the-shelf ImPACT therapeutic vaccines to combat a wide range of cancers and infectious diseases. ImPACT Therapy exploits the natural ability of antigens to activate the immune system by utilizing live, off-the-shelf, genetically modified cells injected into a patient to elicit a powerful immune response against the disease target. Heat’s ImPACT Therapy is based upon heat shock protein gp-96, a chaperone protein found in all human cells and normally tethered to our cells with a leash called the KDEL sequence. ImPACT Therapy removes this KDEL leash, thus transforming allogeneic living cells into powerful machines that continually pump out gp96 and their chaperoned antigens to activate the immune system against the full spectrum of antigens expressed by a patient’s disease. Heat is currently in Phase IIA trials against non-small cell lung cancer. Positive prophylactic and therapeutic data against SIV (the primate equivalent of HIV) has also been generated in a large 48-primate NIH-sponsored study, the first of ImPACT’s ability to combat viral diseases. Heat plans to initiate additional clinical trials against bladder and ovarian cancer in 2012.
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