Catalyzing effective immune responses in immunologically "Cold" tumors
Our Approach
Rapidly Translate Innovative Research
We are rapidly translating the most cutting-edge discoveries from academic tumor immunology into drugs optimized for treating the majority of patients who have "cold" cancers refractory to currently available immunotherapy.
Develop a Pipeline Optimized for Combination
Immunogenesis is focused on developing a pipeline of drugs that, in combination, will synergize to address the critical ingredients for effective immunity against "cold" tumors: 1) Generation of sufficient anti-tumor T cells; 2) protection and expansion of those cells in the tumor; and 3) reduction in hostile tumor metabolism.
Conduct Biomarker-Driven Clinical Trials
We plan our clinical studies to treat patient populations most likely to experience optimal benefit. Further, we leverage novel imaging, and cellular and molecular analysis to understand the mechanisms driving response versus resistance.
Company Highlights
Founder, Dr. Michael A. Curran, is a pioneer in modern immuno-oncology. Dr. Curran was the first to describe and drove early clinical development of the PD-1/CTLA-4 inhibitor combination approach, still the most effective clinical combination of immunotherapies.
Technology based on the work of Dr. Curran’s lab at MD Anderson where he has focused on developing approaches to overcome immunotherapy resistance in immunologically “cold” tumors.
Experienced management team and Board of Directors with track record of driving successful results in Biotech.
ImmunoGenesis Team
Executive Management
Michael Curran
Founder and SAB Head
Dr. Michael Curran is an Associate Professor of Immunology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas and co-Scientific Director of the Oncology Research for Biologics and Immunotherapy Translation (ORBIT) program coordinating development and production of clinical immunotherapeutic antibodies. Dr. Curran received the Ph.D. degree from Stanford University training in the laboratory of Dr. Gary Nolan where he was awarded the McDevitt prize for the best graduate thesis in his year. Dr. Curran was the first recipient of the prestigious American Cancer Society Levy Fellowship to fund his post-doctoral studies in the lab of Dr. James P. Allison. While pursuing his postdoctoral studies at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Curran published several influential manuscripts describing how T cell co-stimulatory pathways could be modulated, in tandem, to mediate immunologic rejection of melanomas in mice. Dr. Curran described how combination blockade of the T cell co-inhibitory receptors CTLA-4 and PD-1 promoted the rejection of most murine melanomas. This work supported the launch of a Phase I clinical trial in which greater than 50% of metastatic melanoma patients experienced objective clinical responses – a result so unprecedented that this became the first FDA-approved immunotherapy combination. In addition, his subsequent immunologic studies of 4-1BB agonist antibodies earned him the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer’s prestigious Presidential Award. The Curran Lab seeks to discover the underlying mechanisms of immune resistance in the “coldest” tumors, pancreatic and prostate adenocarcinoma and glioblastoma, so that rational therapeutic interventions can be developed to restore T cell infiltration and sensitivity to T cell checkpoint blockade.
James Barlow
CEO
Before joining Geneos, Jim drove the development of Inovio’s Immuno-Oncology (IO) product strategy. In this effort, he led a cross-functional team across Commercial, Clinical, Product Development, R&D and Business Development to establish a set of key strategic principles. Jim drove the product prioritization efforts based on these principles, established the IO Advisory Panel, and drove KOL and pharma partner interactions to position the company to embark on major clinical programs across four tumor types of interest. These programs are evaluating combination regimens of Inovio’s cancer immunotherapies with PD-(L)1 inhibitors from 3 different pharma partners – Jim drove the establishment of two of these three partnerships as well as a clinical partnership with the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.
Prior to Inovio, Jim was at Bristol-Myers Squibb where he was the Payer Marketing Lead for YERVOY®, the pioneering cancer immunotherapy whose approval set off the current wave of immunotherapy development in Oncology. Given the “First in Class” nature of the product and premium price associated with it, Jim created a number of innovative programs to optimize market access. While at BMS, Jim also worked on the overall IO franchise commercial strategy including the development of communication planning for the groundbreaking immunotherapy, OPDIVO®. Prior to BMS, Jim spent 8 years at Merck working in commercial leadership roles with increasing responsibility for the Oncology franchise.
Jim received a MBA (strategy and marketing) with honors from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. He was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship from Tepper. Jim received his Bachelor of Arts in Math and Economics from Colgate University where he was awarded the Alumni Memorial Scholarship and he graduated Summa Cum Laude.
William Tanner
CFO
Dr. William Tanner joined ImmunoGenesis following his tenure at Cantor Fitzgerald as Managing Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst in the Equity Research Department. Dr. Tanner spent more than 20 years as an analyst at leading healthcare investment banks including SG Cowen, Leerink Swann and Lazard Capital Markets. During his career, Dr. Tanner covered more than 100 biotech companies and was involved in raising billions of dollars for public and private companies. He received the Ph.D. degree from Texas A&M University and completed post-doctoral training at the Washington University School of Medicine in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, studying growth factor regulation of mammalian glucose transport, and in the Department of Pathology, Center for Immunology, studying signal transduction mechanisms of growth factor receptors. He was the recipient of a National Research Service Award from the NIH. Prior to starting his Wall Street career, Dr. Tanner received the MBA degree from the Olin School of Business at Washington University.
Donald D.K. Strickland, MD
Consultant Chief Medical Officer
Donald D.K. Strickland recently joined ImmunoGenesis as the Consultant Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Strickland’s medical oncology/hematology experience includes most tumor types (both solid and liquid), and all study phases (current focus primarily on Phase 1). He was most recently the Vice President of Medical & Clinical Science at Sarah Cannon Development Innovations. In this role, he oversaw all aspects of clinical development at Sarah Cannon including medical monitoring, clinical development planning, protocol generation, data management and safety monitoring. Dr. Strickland also evaluated RFP proposals to assist in the identification and selection of scientifically robust, practical and fiscally responsible trials and projects. Prior to Sarah Cannon, D.K. was a Senior Medical Director at the CRO, PRA Health Sciences. At PRA, D.K. provided medical expertise for study design, generation of study protocols, CRFs, informed consents, Investigators Drug Brochures, Statistical Analysis Plans, and other study materials. He leveraged his medical expertise for the selection and recruitment of investigational sites and also provided continuous medical monitoring and drug safety expertise for the conduct of Phase I-IV studies. Before PRA, Dr. Strickland worked as an Assistant Medical Director at Genentech focused on the Avastin (bevacizumab) clinical program.
Before he joined industry, Dr. Strickland was a practicing Hematologist/Oncologist for 9 years at academic and community-based practices. He received his BA/MD degree at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, did his residency in pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO and completed a fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Duke University.
Federica Pericle, PhD, MBA
Consultant Chief Scientific Officer
Federica Pericle, PhD, MBA, was recently the President and CEO of Agilvax, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel cancer therapies and vaccines for infection diseases. She was responsible of establishing company structure, finance, R&D, legal, board composition, IP and recruitment of KOLs. She raised over $10M in Series A and develop the lead cancer vaccine from inception to pre-IND stage. Prior to Agilvax she was the co-founder and COO of SeneXta Therapeutics, a clinical stage company developing treatments for CNS disorders. Dr. Pericle also served as a scientific advisor for Agennix, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing protein-based drugs for oncology. She also worked as Senior Scientist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Moffitt Cancer Center. Dr. Pericle led the development of five product candidates into clinical trials for the treatment of cancer/CNS, published over 50 scientific articles and co-authored five patents in the field of cancer. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Turin in Italy and has a specialization in Immunology/Cancer Immunotherapy from the University of South Florida and the University of Turin. She also holds an MBA from Texas A&M University.
Investors & Media
ImmunoGenesis Awarded $15.5 M Grant from Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
August 24, 2020
ImmunoGenesis, Inc. has been awarded a $15.5 M grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to advance development of IMGS-001, the company’s dual specific Checkpoint Inhibitor and Tumor Microenvironment (TME) remodeling agent.
ImmunoGenesis: Acquisition Strengthens “Cold”
Tumor Targeting Pipeline
December 8, 2020
ImmunoGenesis, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company
developing therapeutics to catalyze effective immune responses in immunologically cold cancers
such as prostate, colorectal and pancreatic cancer, today announced that it has acquired the
rights to the hypoxia-reducing agent evofosfamide.