Burlingame, Calif. – June 23, 2015 – Cleave Biosciences today announced Kanya Rajangam, M.D., Ph.D. has joined the company as vice president, clinical development. Dr. Rajangam will lead Cleave's ongoing clinical trials and design future studies to evaluate drug candidate CB-5083 in hematological and solid tumor malignancies, as well as advance other internally-discovered compounds into development.
Cleave also announced that Chief Medical Officer Alessandra Cesano, M.D., Ph.D. is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
For nearly a decade, Dr. Rajangam has played a key role in the clinical development and regulatory submissions of new oncology drugs including the approval of KYPROLIS® (carfilzomib) for patients with multiple myeloma at Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Previously, at Exelixis Inc, she designed and monitored early-stage clinical trials for multiple compounds, including COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) and cobimetinib. Most recently she was executive director of the oncology and immune-oncology program at Nektar Therapeutics. After earning her medical degree from St. John's Medical College in Bangalore, India, Dr. Rajangam completed a surgical residency at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, India. She then earned a doctorate in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University.
"Dr. Rajangam has led teams that have been tremendously effective in orchestrating large, multifaceted clinical programs for cancer therapeutics that have become commercial successes and are extending people's lives," said Laura Shawver, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Cleave Biosciences. "She will be a terrific addition to Cleave as we advance our lead drug candidate CB-5083 beyond Phase 1 trials."
About Cleave Biosciences
Biopharmaceutical company Cleave Biosciences is a pioneer in the discovery and development of drugs that target protein homeostasis systems and have the potential to transform the treatment of people with difficult to treat solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. The company is privately held and located in Burlingame, California. Information regarding Cleave's clinical trials for oncology drug candidate CB-5083, including enrolling centers, is available by visiting www.clinicaltrials.gov (identifier # NCT02243917 solid tumors, or # NCT02223598 multiple myeloma.) For additional information, visit www.cleavebio.com.
KYPROLIS® is a registered trademark of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
COMETRIQ® is a registgered trademark of Exelixis, Inc.
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Contacts:
Laura Shawver, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Cleave Biosciences
(650) 443-3010
[email protected]
Pam Lord
Canale Communications
(619) 849-6003
[email protected]