Amid the merger of Celgene and his former company Bristol-Myers Squibb, there was no room at the inn for oncologist Thomas Lynch, M.D., as its chief scientific officer.
As the company becomes Squelgene, Lynch was edged out in the summer and went on to “pursue other healthcare opportunities.” Now, he’s landed at cancer biotech Kleo Pharmaceuticals as its chairman.
He joins another BMS alumnus in CEO Doug Manion, M.D., who had been its senior vice president and head of specialty development before becoming the chief at Kleo back in the summer of 2017.
Together, they will now work on pushing its therapy CD38-ARM, a CD38-targeting antibody recruiting molecule to treat multiple myeloma, as its first asset to move into the clinic, which is planned for next year.
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Kleo’s previous chairman, Declan Doogan, M.D., remains on the board, but the biotech said Alex Goor has resigned his board seat.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Dr. Lynch as our new Chairman of the Board, and we look forward to his contributions to Kleo’s continued success in advancing our novel synthetic bispecific compounds,” said Manion. “Tom possesses a rare combination of exceptional scientific acumen and leadership ability, and I am thrilled to be working with him again.”
Lynch added: “I am delighted to be joining Kleo’s board of directors as chairman. Based on the ground-breaking science from the laboratory of David Spiegel at Yale, Kleo has quickly developed innovative bispecific molecules that have the potential to play a role in treating advanced cancers. Doug has assembled a world-class team with whom I look forward to working.”