Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) has brought on board Dr John Byon as senior vice president of Clinical Development to further the company’s development of new and novel cancer immunotherapies.
Byon's experience in the biopharmaceutical industry has been marked by significant contributions in clinical development and leadership roles.
Extensive background
He most recently served as vice president of Clinical Development in Hematology and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE).
During his tenure, he played a key role in shaping the clinical strategy for the hematology portfolio, which encompassed vital assets in B-cell malignancies, AML and multiple myeloma.
His work has been instrumental in the restructuring of Fate’s clinical development team and provided oversight for hematology trials.
Prior to Fate, Byon held the position of senior medical director and head of Clinical Science at Lyell Immunopharma, where he led the strategic development of clinical approaches for portfolio assets, established an internal clinical science function as well as represented the company in joint collaborations.
As well, Byon contributed his expertise as senior medical director at Juno Therapeutics, where he played a pivotal role in the clinical advancement of orvacabtagene autoleucel (orva-cel/JCARH125) for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and other novel CAR T-cell targets.
Earlier, he held several medical director roles over a four-year period at Genentech, focusing on managing clinical development activities for Tecentriq® (Atezolizumab) in various hematological malignancies.
Great fit
"There is an excellent correlation with Dr Byon’s experience and our portfolio of assets at Imugene, making him an outstanding fit for the company,” Imugene chief executive officer and managing director Leslie Chong said.
“We look forward to him bringing his leadership and new perspectives into the clinical development team."
Equipped with a Doctor of Medicine and a Doctor of Philosophy from Tulane University, Byon's expertise extends beyond corporate settings into academic.
He has published extensively in the fields of hematology and oncology.