Olema Oncology Appoints Biotechnology Industry Veterans to Round Out Executive Team
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Olema Oncology, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted therapies for women's cancers, today announced it has strengthened its executive team with the appointment of Shane Kovacs, M.B.A., as Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer, Kinney Horn as Chief Business Officer, and John B. Moriarty, J.D., as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer. In addition, Pamela Klein, M.D., will serve as Olema's Chief Medical Officer, and David Myles, Ph.D., has been promoted to Chief Development Officer.
Mr. Kovacs will lead Olema's financial strategy, accounting, information technology and human resources functions. Mr. Horn will lead the business and corporate development function, including strategy and partnerships, and will play a key role in business operations. Mr. Moriarty will serve as Olema's chief legal officer, leading all legal, regulatory, governance and compliance initiatives. Dr. Klein will guide Olema's clinical development efforts, including clinical strategy, medical affairs, clinical operations, clinical pharmacokinetics, biometrics, regulatory affairs and quality. Dr. Myles will continue to lead the Company's preclinical development and CMC operations and oversee ongoing discovery chemistry efforts.
"We are building an exciting, patient-centered oncology company with a mission to improve the lives of women affected by cancer, and are thrilled to welcome these industry veterans to the executive team," said Cyrus Harmon, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Olema Oncology. "Shane's experience, energy and enthusiasm will be instrumental as we begin our next phase of growth as a clinical- stage company. Kinney had a strong and tenured business development career with Genentech where he oversaw numerous transactions core to its oncology strategy and programs. His knowledge of the oncology landscape will be invaluable as we look for partnerships and collaborations to further advance our lead program, OP-1250, in breast cancer and work to expand our pipeline. John's extensive legal experience in the biopharma industry will be critical as we aim to reach important clinical and regulatory milestones for OP-1250."
Dr. Harmon added, "Pam is widely recognized throughout the industry for leading the clinical advancement of some of the most important breast cancer drugs brought to market over the past two decades. She has played a critical role in the growth of many biotechnology companies, and her leadership, expertise and knowledge will prove invaluable as we embark on a critical set of clinical trials of OP-1250 for metastatic, estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer that we believe will move us closer to our goal of changing the way breast cancer is treated. David has done a terrific job overseeing discovery chemistry efforts and leading IND-enabling studies and manufacturing efforts for OP-1250."
New and Promoted Olema Executive Team Members
-- Shane Kovacs, M.B.A., has more than 20 years of biotechnology operating
experience, including a strong background in capital markets and M&A.
Prior to joining Olema, he was Chief Business and Financial Officer of
BlueRock Therapeutics, LP (acquired by Bayer AG), an engineered cell
therapy company focused on neurology, cardiology and immunology.
Previously, he served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate
Development at PTC Therapeutics where he helped transform the company
into a publicly traded, commercial-stage rare disease company. Earlier
in his career, Mr. Kovacs served as Managing Director, Healthcare
Investment Banking, at Credit Suisse and Head of Biotechnology
Investment Banking at RBC Capital Markets where he worked with a variety
of biotechnology boards and management teams on a range of strategic and
financial matters. He earned bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering,
life sciences and economics from Queen's University in Kingston,
Ontario, and an M.B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the
University of Western Ontario. He is a CFA charterholder.
-- Kinney Horn has 20 years of experience in life science finance,
leadership and biopharmaceutical business development roles. During his
16-year career at Genentech, he participated in a number of
transactions, including the acquisition of Seragon Pharmaceuticals and
key product technology collaborations with Xencor, Affimed, Hanmi,
Immunocore, Seattle Genetics, Vernalis, NCM USA, Kasia and Tercica. In
addition to corporate transaction responsibilities, he led the annual
oncology strategic sourcing process for 13 areas of oncology research
and development. Prior to Olema, Mr. Horn was an Entrepreneur in
Residence at EcoR1 Capital and held venture and merchant banking
positions at Emerging Technology Partners and Oscar Gruss. He earned
degrees in economics, international affairs and biochemistry from Mary
Washington College and Georgetown University.
-- John B. Moriarty, J.D., has more than 25 years of legal and biotech
experience across leading global biotech companies. Most recently, he
was Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Portola
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was responsible for all legal,
governance and compliance matters supporting the company's launch of
Andexxa, its corporate strategy, and the build-out of its global
operations in the United States and Europe, which culminated in
Portola's acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in July 2020.
Prior to Portola, Mr. Moriarty was General Counsel of Alexion for more
than five years during a period of tremendous growth and value creation.
He was responsible for overseeing all global legal matters spanning 50
countries, as well as managing Alexion's Global Government Affairs and
Global Corporate Communications teams. Earlier in his career, Mr.
Moriarty was General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer at Elan Corporation
plc, and served as a member of Elan's Executive Management team. Prior
to joining Elan, he held positions of increasing responsibility and
leadership at Amgen. Earlier in his career, he worked as an attorney in
the healthcare practice of a national law firm and was a healthcare
fraud prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office and in the Virginia
Attorney General's Office. Mr. Moriarty earned a B.A. from the
University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Georgia School
of Law cum laude. He has served on the Board of Trustees for the
American Kidney Fund since 2015 and chairs the Audit and Compliance
Committee.
-- Pamela Klein, M.D., is a medical oncologist and seasoned biotechnology
executive and advisor with 20 years of experience in drug development.
She has served as Chief Medical Officer/Acting Chief Medical Officer for
multiple successful biotech companies including Intellikine (acquired by
Takeda) and Syndax Pharmaceuticals. From 2001 to 2008, she held
increasing positions of responsibility at Genentech, most recently as
Vice President, Development, where she led the development for a
portfolio of drugs including trastuzumab (Herceptin), rituximab
(Rituxan), pertuzumab (Perjeta) and erlotinib (Tarceva). Prior to that,
she was Research Director for the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Navy
Breast Care Center, which she co-founded and led until leaving the NCI.
She is Founder and Principal of PMK BioResearch, offering advisory and
strategic consulting for the biotechnology industry and venture firms,
and is a member of the Board of Directors of Argenx, Patrys, Spring Bank
Pharmaceuticals and I-Mab Biopharma. She is also a member of several
Scientific Advisory Boards. Dr. Klein received a bachelor's degree in
biology from California State University and an M.D. from Stritch School
of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago. She trained in internal medicine
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and medical oncology at
the NCI in Bethesda, Md., where she served as Chief Oncology Fellow.
-- David Myles, Ph.D., has more than 20 years of experience in
oncology-focused drug discovery and development. Since joining Olema
shortly after its inception as Executive Vice President, Drug Discovery
and Development, he has led Olema's discovery chemistry, CMC and
IND-enabling efforts. Prior to joining Olema, he served as Executive
Director at Kosan Biosciences where he was program leader on one of its
leading oncology initiatives and led discovery and development chemistry
programs, which led to the identification and advancement of clinical
candidates in oncology and other indications. Earlier, Dr. Myles was
Associate Director of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at Chiron
Corporation (acquired by Novartis), working on oncology and anti-viral
programs. Prior to entering the biotechnology sector, Dr. Myles was a
member of the faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at
the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an inventor on over 20
issued patents and the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed
publications. He earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Yale
University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University.
About Olema Oncology
Olema Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted therapies for women's cancers. Olema's lead program, OP-1250, a complete estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist (CERAN) and a selective ER degrader (SERD), is currently being studied in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic or locally advanced, ER-positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer. Olema is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.olema.com.
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