SAN DIEGO, Feb. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In parallel with announcing encouraging clinical data at the 2011 BMT Tandem Meetings from its ongoing proof-of-concept FT1050 Phase 1b trial, Fate Therapeutics announced that Paul A. Grayson, who has been president & CEO since April 2008, is leaving Fate to form a new company.
"I am proud of the outstanding organization that I have assembled at Fate, and of the company's innovative product pipeline," noted Mr. Grayson. "This excellent news regarding FT1050 clinical development and its orphan designation, and the emerging platform for ex vivo stem cell modulation, place Fate on the best footing possible. Over the past three years, the team has demonstrated an enviable track record across all facets of the business."
"On behalf of the entire Board of Directors and investor groups, we recognize, appreciate and laud Paul's accomplishments in building one of the most innovative engines for interrogating stem cell biology," said Carl Weissman, director of Fate Therapeutics and managing director at OVP Venture Partners. "Under his direction over the past three years, Fate Therapeutics has pioneered point-of-care, pharmacologic modulation of stem cells for therapeutic benefit, has been honored with multiple awards trumpeting its revolutionary induced pluripotent stem cell technology and has filled its product pipeline with several novel regenerative recombinant protein candidates."
About Fate Therapeutics, Inc.
Fate Therapeutics is interrogating adult stem cell biology and applying induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to develop stem cell modulators (SCMs), small molecule or biologic compounds that guide cell fate for therapeutic purposes. The Company's award-winning, proprietary iPSC technology incorporates the most advanced viral, small molecule and protein reprogramming methods and offers a highly efficient platform to recapitulate human physiology for commercial scale drug discovery and therapeutic use. The Company's approach has broad therapeutic potential in areas such as regenerative medicine, hematological diseases, metastatic cancer, traumatic injury and degenerative diseases. Fate Therapeutics is currently conducting a Phase 1b clinical trial of FT1050, a small molecule SCM designed to enhance hematopoietic stem cell support during the normal course of a stem cell transplant in patients with hematologic malignancies, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Fate Therapeutics is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with a subsidiary in Ottawa, Canada. For more information, please visit http://www.fatetherapeutics.com.