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SYDNEY, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Kazia Therapeutics Limited (NASDAQ: KZIA; ASX: KZA), an oncology-focused drug development company, is pleased to announce the launch of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The new SAB consists of four distinguished clinicians and scientists with expertise in the development of innovative therapies for brain cancer.
Key Points
- SAB will advise and guide Kazia as paxalisib moves towards anticipated completion of GBM AGILE in 2H CY2023 and potential commercialization thereafter.
- SAB members are senior experts in the field of brain cancer, with an extensive track record of research and publication. The initial membership comprises:
- Dr Priscilla Brastianos [Massachusetts General Hospital]
- Dr John de Groot [University of California, San Francisco]
- Dr Alan Olivero [independent consultant and inventor of paxalisib]
- Dr Patrick Wen [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute]
Kazia CEO, Dr James Garner, commented, “We are both excited and enormously honoured to have four highly respected brain cancer specialists join the newly constituted Kazia SAB. With paxalisib rapidly progressing towards potential commercialization, the advice and counsel of experts in the field will be essential to our success. We could wish for no more qualified group of advisors than the four individuals who have come on board.”
Dr Garner added, “we are grateful to the four previous members of Kazia’s SAB: Professor Sir Murray Brennan, Dr Karen Ferrante, Professor Peter Gunning, and Dr Alex Matter. Their generous and thoughtful guidance has helped to make Kazia the company it is today. Given that paxalisib has now reached a late state in its development, it seems appropriate to now reform the SAB in the context of the drug’s anticipated commercial market.”
Dr Priscilla Brastianos
Dr Priscilla Brastianos is director of the Central Nervous System Metastasis Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and leads a multi-R01-funded laboratory. Her research focuses on understanding the genomic mechanisms that drive primary and metastatic brain tumours and she has lead studies which have identified novel therapeutic targets in brain tumours.
Dr Priscilla Brastianos completed her medical school and internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and fellowship training in hematology / oncology and neuro-oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital. She has more than 145 scientific publications and has translated her scientific findings to national multi-center trials. She also leads a multidisciplinary Central Nervous System Metastasis Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School. She has received a number of awards for her work including ‘NextGen Star’ award by the American Association for Cancer Research, Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award, Breast Cancer Research Foundation Award, Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Award, American Brain Tumor Association Joel Gingras Award, and Anne Klibanski Award for Excellence in Mentorship.
Dr John de Groot
Dr John de Groot is Division Chief of the Neuro-Oncology Division within the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He is a neuro-oncologist with extensive clinical and translational research experience in the field of glioma, angiogenesis, molecularly targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.
Prior to joining UCSF, Dr de Groot was based at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, where he was co-leader of the GBM Moonshot Program. He has authored over 135 peer-reviewed publications, has been the principal investigator of 44 clinical trials, a collaborator on a further 78 clinical trials, and has been a recipient of multiple NCI, CPRIT, NBTS, and industry-sponsored grants. He has also served as a peer reviewer for 23 scientific journals, and sits on four editorial review boards, as well as occupying several leadership positions within the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO).
Dr Alan Olivero
Dr Alan Olivero is a consultant specialising in drug discovery and development. In 2018 he retired from Genentech, Inc., where he worked for 25 years, rising to the level of Senior Director, of Discovery Chemistry and Head of Research Operations. During his time at Genentech, he oversaw much of the medicinal chemistry conducted at Genentech, led research teams for eight clinical candidates and, as Head of Research Operations, additionally oversaw the company’s research budget, headcount, and research facilities.
Dr Olivero is an expert on intracellular signalling pathways and was the team leader for Genentech’s PI3K franchise. He has a specialist interest in brain cancer and is a coinventor of paxalisib (formally GDC-0084). He led the early development of paxalisib and was responsible for bringing the drug into human trials.
Dr. Olivero has a BS degree in chemistry from Stanford University, completed postgraduate work in synthetic organic chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), and received his PhD in organic chemistry from Stanford University in 1988. He has co-authored numerous scientific publications and is a named inventor on over 40 patents.
Dr Patrick Wen
Dr Patrick Y. Wen is Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His research interests include novel therapeutics for brain tumors, as well as innovative clinical trial designs, and response assessment and endpoints in clinical trials.
Dr Wen was the President of the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) from 2017-2019. He was formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Neuro-Oncology, and is currently SNO Executive Editor of Neuro-Oncology. He is also a steering committee member of the Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) Working Group and co-chairs the Agents Selection Committee of the GBM-AGILE trial.
After receiving his medical degree from the Medical College of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, University of London, Dr Wen underwent residency training at Harvard Longwood Neurology Training Program, and completed his clinical and research fellowship in neurology at the Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts.
About Kazia Therapeutics Limited
Kazia Therapeutics Limited (NASDAQ: KZIA; ASX: KZA) is an oncology-focused drug development company, based in Sydney, Australia.
Our lead program is paxalisib, a brain-penetrant inhibitor of the PI3K / Akt / mTOR pathway, which is being developed to treat glioblastoma, the most common and most aggressive form of primary brain cancer in adults. Licensed from Genentech in late 2016, paxalisib commenced recruitment to GBM AGILE, a pivotal study in glioblastoma, in January 2021. Seven additional studies are active in various forms of brain cancer. Paxalisib was granted Orphan Drug Designation for glioblastoma by the US FDA in February 2018, and Fast Track Designation for glioblastoma by the US FDA in August 2020. In addition, paxalisib was granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Orphan Designation by the US FDA for DIPG in August 2020, and for AT/RT in June 2022.
Kazia is also developing EVT801, a small-molecule inhibitor of VEGFR3, which was licensed from Evotec SE in April 2021. Preclinical data has shown EVT801 to be active against a broad range of tumour types and has provided compelling evidence of synergy with immuno-oncology agents. A phase I study commenced recruitment in November 2021.
For more information, please visit www.kaziatherapeutics.com or follow us on Twitter @KaziaTx.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, which can generally be identified as such by the use of words such as “may,” “intend,” “potential,” “prospective,” or other similar words. Any statement describing Kazia’s future plans, strategies, intentions, expectations, objectives, goals or prospects, and other statements that are not historical facts, are also forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on Kazia’s expectations and projections about future events and future trends affecting our business and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties associated with clinical trials and product development and the impact of global economic conditions. These and other risks and uncertainties, are described more fully in Kazia’s Annual Report, filed on form 20-F with the SEC, and in subsequent filings to SEC. Kazia undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this announcement. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this announcement.
This document was authorized for release to the ASX by James Garner, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director.
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