EDMONTON, May 14, 2018 /CNW/ - OncoQuest Inc.
("OncoQuest"), a privately held, cancer immunotherapy company,
today announced the appointment of Dr. Eliel Bayever as Chief Medical Officer. Dr.
Bayever has spent almost 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry
developing both biologics and small molecule oncology drugs
globally.
Prior to joining OncoQuest, Dr. Bayever was Vice President and
Head of Oncology at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, responsible for
leading the effort to develop novel biologics for cancer
immunotherapy. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Medical, at
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, where he led the registration study,
regulatory submission and global approval of ONIVYDE as a
post-gemcitabine treatment of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Bayever
has also held senior medical positions at Johnson & Johnson,
Wyeth (now Pfizer), Human Genome Sciences (now Glaxo Smith Kline),
and Bayer focusing primarily on oncology therapeutics, as well as
related devices and diagnostics.
Before joining Bayer, Dr. Bayever was Associate Professor of
Pediatrics at The George Washington School of
Medicine and Health Services and Director of the
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Program, a senior
investigator at the Center for Cancer and Transplantation Biology
and a member of the Institutional Biosafety Committee at the
Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC. He was also on staff at
the University of Nebraska Medical
Center, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Dr. Bayever received his medical degree from the Medical School
of the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, is a Member of the Royal College
of Physicians of the United
Kingdom after time spent at King's College Hospital in
London and completed a Fellowship
in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at UCLA. Dr. Bayever has
published over 30 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and
contributed 15 editorials, reviews and chapters.
"We are delighted that Dr. Bayever is joining the OncoQuest
team", said Dr. Madi R. Madiyalakan, OncoQuest's CEO. "The
experience Eliel brings in leading early and late stage global
clinical development and regulatory teams in oncology, including
immunotherapy, will be very valuable as we move both our ovarian
and pancreatic cancer therapeutics programs further in their
clinical progress."
"I am very excited to be joining the OncoQuest leadership team
at this important inflection in the Company's development. This is
a pivotal time for OncoQuest's oregovomab, a novel immunotherapy,
the Company's lead compound. In Phase 2, oregovomab showed
great promise as a frontline therapy for ovarian cancer where the
standard of care has not changed for decades, and I look forward to
leading it to potential registration. The opportunity to help grow
a company that has the possibility of altering the way in which
cancer is treated is, as always, very compelling to an oncologist,"
commented Dr. Bayever.
About OncoQuest
OncoQuest is a subsidiary of Quest
PharmaTech Inc. (TSXV-QPT) ("Quest"), and is a private
biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and
commercialization of immunotherapies for cancer. OncoQuest's
technology platform includes a portfolio of tumor antigen specific
monoclonal immunoglobulins including CA125, MUC1, PSA and Her2/neu.
We are developing protocols utilizing these antibodies in
combination with other immune modulating drugs or drug combinations
to enhance tumor specific immunity and clinical outcome.
OncoQuest's lead product is oregovomab, an anti-CA125 antibody,
for the treatment of ovarian cancer that is currently undergoing
multiple Phase 2 clinical trials. OncoQuest's anti-MUC1 antibody
program has already undergone a Phase 1 clinical trial in breast
cancer patients, and its development is being led by OncoVent Co.
Ltd., OncoQuest's joint venture partner that has licensed the
rights of the immunotherapy technologies in the territory of
Greater China. OncoQuest's
next-generation products are based on immunoglobulin E licensed
from UCLA, Stanford University and Advanced Immune
Therapeutics, Inc. These antigen-specific monoclonal IgE antibodies
are currently in preclinical development.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements. In
some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by
terminology such as "may," "should," "potential," "continue,"
"expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes,"
"estimates," and similar expressions. These statements are
based on management's expectations and assumptions as of the date
of this press release and are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could
cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations
and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any
forward-looking statements. The information in this release is
provided only as of the date of this release and the company
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements
contained in this release based on new information, future events,
or otherwise, except as required by law.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE OncoQuest Inc.