Immunitas Therapeutics Appoints Annalisa D'Andrea, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer

2024-01-18

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Dr. D'Andrea brings more than 25 years of research and development experience to the company, expanding executive leadership team to advance pipeline WALTHAM, Mass., Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Immunitas Therapeutics ("Immunitas"), a clinical stage precision immunotherapy company committed to discovering and developing novel, differentiated therapeutics for patients with cancer, today announced the appointment of Annalisa D'Andrea, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). Dr. D'Andrea has more than 25 years of basic and translational research and development expertise in both large and small pharmaceutical and biotech settings. Dr. D'Andrea brings to Immunitas a strong history of success in immunology therapeutic development, having led products from target selection through clinical evaluation. Her expertise will accelerate Immunitas' pipeline of highly differentiated, antibody-based therapeutics, including lead candidate IMT-009 which is currently dosing in the clinic and the company's second program, an antibody oligonucleotide conjugate designed to stimulate Toll-like receptor 9. Dr. D'Andrea has been an advisor for the Company and served as Acting CSO since September 2023. "Annalisa's leadership and deep drug development expertise has proven invaluable as we advanced our growing pipeline of novel precision immuno-oncology therapeutics over the past several months," said Amanda Wagner, Chief Executive Officer of Immunitas. "We are excited to welcome her as our full-time Chief Scientific Officer. Annalisa will spearhead translational development and progression of our research and discovery programs. Her experience will play a key role in shaping our scientific strategy as the company continues to bring novel differentiated therapies to patients." Dr. D'Andrea brings nearly three decades of experience leading drug discovery and development. In addition to her role at Immunitas, Dr. D'Andrea is also a Venture Partner at Longwood Fund, supporting the identification and advancement of promising biotechnology companies, and an independent board member for Engimmune Therapeutics. Most recently, Dr. D'Andrea served as President and CSO at ImmuneID, CSO at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals and Vice President and Global Head of Discovery for Immunology and Inflammation at Roche, where she oversaw the discovery pipeline of drug candidates from inception to the clinic. She also previously held multiple roles at SRI International and at Chiron Vaccines. Dr. D'Andrea earned her doctoral degree from the University of Florence while training at the Wistar Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. "I look forward to collaborating with this talented team to build on the foundation of strong science underpinning Immunitas' expanding portfolio and realize novel therapeutic options for people living with cancer," said Dr. D'Andrea. "Immunitas' unique approach to drug discovery and fully integrated research and development capabilities differentiate the organization and offer opportunity to translate innovative science into broad patient impact." About IMT-009 IMT-009 is a fully human, Fc-attenuated IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds to CD161 and blocks its interaction with its ligand, CLEC2D. Preclinical data confirm that CD161 blockade with IMT-009 results in enhanced anti-tumor activity. IMT-009 is under evaluation in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial for use as a monotherapy and combination treatment for solid tumor and hematological malignancies. The Phase 1 study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacodynamic biomarkers, and preliminary efficacy of IMT-009 as well as identify the Recommended Phase 2 Dose (RP2D). The trial will then transition into Phase 2 with multiple expansion cohorts to assess the safety and efficacy of IMT-009 alone or in combination with another antineoplastic agent. About Immunitas Therapeutics Immunitas is a clinical stage precision immunotherapy company committed to discovering and developing novel, differentiated treatments for patients with cancer. A focus on human data, combined with fully integrated internal R&D capabilities and parallel discovery efforts, allows Immunitas to start with and stay closer to the most relevant and translatable biology for patients, accelerating the timeline from discovery to the clinic. The Immunitas discovery engine combines deep expertise in single-cell genomics with customized machine learning approaches to elucidate immune cell populations that are key actors in immuno-oncology. The company was founded by Longwood Fund with leading scientists from Dana-Farber, MGH, the Broad, and MIT. Since its founding in 2019, Immunitas has raised a total of $97 million in venture funding from a strong syndicate of investors including Agent Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Evotec, Leaps by Bayer, Longwood Fund, M Ventures, Medical Excellence Capital, and Novartis Venture Fund. To learn more, visit .