Dr. Chow Brings Two Decades of Immunotherapy
& Anti-Angiogenic Cancer Treatment Experience to Team
Summit
Summit Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SMMT) (“Summit,” “we,” or the
“Company”) today announced that Laura Chow, MD, has joined Summit
Therapeutics as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development.
“Dr. Chow has spent her career working on the development of
immunotherapies for oncology patients – working with nearly all of
the major therapies that have been developed over the past
decade-plus,” stated Robert W. Duggan, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of the Company. “Her experience as a medical oncologist
participating in trials, acting as an advisor, and providing
counsel and input into the development of several blockbuster
immune-oncology products is invaluable asset to Team Summit and our
mission to make a significant, positive difference in the lives of
patients facing this serious disease. We are very excited to
welcome Laura to our team.”
Dr. Chow remains in active clinical practice as a medical
oncologist specialized in lung and head and neck cancers. She joins
Summit from Fate Therapeutics, where she was the Vice President of
Clinical Development in Solid Tumors. Dr. Chow brings nearly two
decades of experience as a practicing medical oncologist and
clinical researcher. She was previously a tenured professor while
serving as the Associate Chair of Oncology Education as well as the
Director of the Head & Neck and Lung Cancer Program at Dell
Medical School and University of Texas at Austin, as well as the
Associate Cancer Center Director for Clinical Research at the
Livestrong Cancer Institutes. Prior to joining the University of
Texas, Dr. Chow was a professor and associate director of Phase I
clinical trials at the University of Washington School of Medicine
as well as an associate member of Fred Hutch, the University of
Washington’s prestigious cancer research program. During her time
at the University of Washington, Dr. Chow was a clinical researcher
in lung cancer, thyroid cancers, head and neck cancers, and novel
immunotherapies and anti-angiogenic agents. Dr. Chow has
participated in advisory boards for multiple novel immunotherapies,
including the early PD-1 therapies that now represent some of the
most significant cancer therapies in present time. Dr. Chow earned
her medical degree from the University of British Columbia and
performed her residency at the University of Alberta. She performed
her medical oncology fellowship at the University of Calgary, with
a subspecialty fellowship in new drug development and lung cancer
at the University of Colorado, and began her career at the
University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada focused on development
therapeutics in solid tumors.
“Dr. Chow’s experience being on the ground floor of cancer
immunotherapy is unmatched,” added Dr. Allen S. Yang, Chief Medical
Officer at Summit. “Laura will be a valuable resource as we seek to
advance and develop our novel, potentially first-in-class
bispecific antibody, ivonescimab, in lung cancer and other solid
tumors. With our leadership team now complete in clinical
development, I am excited about the future development of
ivonescimab when combining the experience of Dr. Laura Chow, Dr.
Jack West, and Dr. Lori Styles to really pave the way forward with
the goal of helping as many patients as possible.”
“I am excited to have the opportunity to work with a late-stage,
novel candidate with the potential of ivonescimab,” noted Dr. Chow.
“I have lived through personal experience the evolution of
immunotherapy and anti-angiogenics in cancer treatment, and I am
looking forward to applying this knowledge and experience to help
develop ivonescimab to reach its potential. I am focused on truly
making a difference in the lives of patients facing significant
challenges from a cancer diagnosis, and I look forward to working
with new colleagues at Team Summit to accomplish this goal.”
Ivonescimab is an investigational therapy that is not approved
by any regulatory agency.
Summit Therapeutics’ Mission Statement
To build a viable, long-lasting health care organization that
assumes full responsibility for designing, developing, trial
execution and enrollment, regulatory submission and approval, and
successful commercialization of patient, physician, caregiver, and
societal-friendly medicinal therapy intended to: improve quality of
life, increase potential duration of life, and resolve serious
medical healthcare needs. To identify and control promising product
candidates based on exceptional scientific development and
administrational expertise, develop our products in a rapid,
cost-efficient manner, and to engage commercialization and/or
development partners when appropriate.
We accomplish this by building a team of world class
professional scientists and business administrators that apply
their experience and knowledge to this mission. Team Summit exists
to pose, strategize, and execute a path forward in medicinal
therapeutic health care that places Summit in a well-deserved, top
market share, leadership position. Team Summit assumes full
responsibility for stimulating continuous expansion of knowledge,
ability, capability, and well-being for all involved stakeholders
and highly-valued shareholders.
About Ivonescimab
Ivonescimab, known as SMT112 in the United States, Canada,
Europe, and Japan (Summit’s license territories), and as AK112 in
China and Australia, is a novel, potential first-in-class
investigational bispecific antibody combining the effects of
immunotherapy via a blockade of PD-1 with the anti-angiogenesis
effects associated with blocking VEGF into a single molecule.
Ivonescimab was discovered by Akeso Inc. (HKEX Code: 9926.HK) and
is currently engaged in multiple Phase III clinical trials. Summit
has begun its clinical development of ivonescimab in NSCLC,
enrolling the first patient in its license territory in 2023, with
the intent of initiating another Phase III clinical trial in 2023.
Over 950 patients have been treated with ivonescimab in clinical
studies conducted by Akeso in China and Australia, with enrollment
beginning recently in Summit’s license territories.
About Summit Therapeutics
Summit was founded in 2003 and our shares are listed on the
Nasdaq Global Market (symbol ‘SMMT’). We are headquartered in Menlo
Park, California, and we have additional offices in Oxford, UK.
For more information, please visit https://www.smmttx.com and
follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @summitplc.
Summit Forward-looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about the Company’s future
expectations, plans and prospects, including but not limited to,
statements about the clinical and preclinical development of the
Company’s product candidates, entry into and actions related to the
Company’s partnership with Akeso Inc., the therapeutic potential of
the Company’s product candidates, the potential commercialization
of the Company’s product candidates, the timing of initiation,
completion and availability of data from clinical trials, the
potential submission of applications for marketing approvals, the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s operations and
clinical trials, potential acquisitions and other statements
containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "project," "should," "target," "would," and similar
expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements as a result of various important
factors, including the results of our evaluation of the underlying
data in connection with the development and commercialization
activities for SMT112, the outcome of discussions with regulatory
authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration, the
uncertainties inherent in the initiation of future clinical trials,
availability and timing of data from ongoing and future clinical
trials, the results of such trials, and their success, and global
public health crises, including the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak,
that may affect timing and status of our clinical trials and
operations, whether preliminary results from a clinical trial will
be predictive of the final results of that trial or whether results
of early clinical trials or preclinical studies will be indicative
of the results of later clinical trials, whether business
development opportunities to expand the Company’s pipeline of drug
candidates, including without limitation, through potential
acquisitions of, and/or collaborations with, other entities occur,
expectations for regulatory approvals, laws and regulations
affecting government contracts and funding awards, availability of
funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and unforeseeable
operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements and other
factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of filings that the
Company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any
change to our ongoing trials could cause delays, affect our future
expenses, and add uncertainty to our commercialization efforts, as
well as to affect the likelihood of the successful completion of
clinical development of SMT112. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press
release represent the Company’s views only as of the date of this
release and should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s
views as of any subsequent date. The Company specifically disclaims
any obligation to update any forward-looking statements included in
this press release.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231102912448/en/
Contact Summit Investor Relations: Dave Gancarz Chief
Business & Strategy Officer investors@smmttx.com
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