CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aileron Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing first-in-class therapeutics based on its proprietary Stapled Peptide drug platform, today announced that it has expanded its senior management team with the appointment of two industry veterans. Manuel C. Aivado, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer, and Donna M. Jarlenski will serve as Vice President of Clinical Operations and Program Management.
"We are excited to add two industry leaders with outstanding drug development experience to Aileron's management team, as we advance our p53 targeting oncology drug, ALRN-6924, into the clinic," said Joseph A. Yanchik III, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aileron Therapeutics. "Manuel's 20 years as a practicing oncologist and as a leader in clinical research that has yielded four marketed drugs will be a valuable addition to the Aileron team and a key guiding voice in our clinical cancer programs. Donna has more than 20 years of clinical research and drug development experience and will substantially strengthen our clinical operations and contribute to Aileron's next stage of growth."
As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Aivado will be responsible for leading Aileron's global clinical development strategy and implementing the clinical development programs including ALRN-6924. As Vice President of Clinical Operations, Ms. Jarlenski, who joins Aileron from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, will be responsible for the company's clinical operations. She will serve on the senior management team at Aileron and report to Dr. Aivado.
"The advance of Aileron's p53 targeting anti-cancer drug into the clinic marks a major milestone and further demonstrates that our Stapled Peptide platform will yield novel therapeutics," said Dr. Aivado. "I look forward to working with the Aileron team to advance ALRN-6924 and unlock the therapeutic potential of p53 for the benefit of cancer patients."
Prior to joining Aileron, Dr. Aivado served as Taiho Oncology's Vice President of Clinical Development and Pharmacovigilance. In that capacity, he built global clinical development capabilities, and led multiple drug programs ranging from phase 1 through phase 3, most prominently the global development of Teysuno® (S-1), TAS-102 and TAS-120. Prior to Taiho, Dr. Aivado held positions of increasing responsibility at GlaxoSmithKline, including as Senior Medical Director in the Clinical Development group, where he was involved in numerous drug programs including ofatumumab (Arzerra®), trametinib (Mekinist®), pazopanib (Votrient®), and eltrombopag (Promacta®). Prior to his industry experience, Dr. Aivado practiced ten years of clinical medicine in Germany. During his clinical career, he directed various molecular cancer research projects, which led him to be awarded the prestigious Dr. Mildred Scheel cancer research scholarship award in 2002. Dr. Aivado was previously an Instructor in Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, where he led the first ever-conducted proteomics research project in Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). During his work in academia and in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Aivado's work has culminated in more than 50 peer-reviewed papers, including research articles in Lancet, Nature Genetics and PNAS. Dr. Aivado is a member of the American Society of Hematology and a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a German Board-certified physician for Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology, and he earned an M.D. and Ph.D. from the Medical School of the University of Dusseldorf, in Germany.
Before joining Aileron, Ms. Jarlenski served as Senior Director, Clinical Development Execution, Global Medicines Development & Affairs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for general oversight, strategic budget and resource planning, and corporate alignment of five business units. Prior to Vertex, Ms. Jarlenski held drug development positions in several large and small biotechnology companies, including Tolerx, Inc., Purdue Pharma, and Sepracor, Inc. Previously, she also held clinical study management positions with PPD, Inc., MedcoResearch, Inc., and ClinTrials Research, Inc. She is a certified Project Manager Professional (PMP) through The Project Management Institute. Ms. Jarlenski holds a BS degree in Microbiology from The Pennsylvania State University and is pursuing a Master of Science at Quinnipiac University.
About Aileron Therapeutics
Aileron Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing first-in-class therapeutics based on its proprietary Stapled Peptide drug platform. Aileron's lead drug development candidate is ALRN-6924, a p53 re-activator for the treatment of cancer. With its proprietary Stapled Peptide platform, Aileron aims to dramatically improve the treatment of a wide range of diseases including cancer, endocrine/metabolic disorders and infectious diseases. For more information, please visit www.aileronrx.com.
Arzerra®, Mekinist®, Votrient® and Promacta® are registered trademarks of the GSK group of companies.