BOSTON, June 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Inozyme Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: INZY), a clinical-stage rare disease biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of abnormal mineralization, today announced the appointment of Kurt Gunter, M.D., as chief medical officer. Dr. Gunter, who most recently served as chief medical officer, cell therapy, and head of regulatory affairs at Athenex, brings to Inozyme over 30 years of expertise in regulatory affairs, clinical development, and government relations.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Kurt to the Inozyme team to lead Inozyme’s clinical development and regulatory strategy,” said Axel Bolte, MSc, MBA, Inozyme’s co-founder, president, and chief executive officer. “Kurt’s experience across the entirety of the drug development process will be invaluable as we advance INZ-701 in our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials in patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency and prepare for our later-stage studies.”
“ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency represent two devastating rare diseases for which there are currently no approved therapies,” said Dr. Gunter. “I firmly believe that INZ-701 could serve as a much-needed intervention for patients suffering from these highly underserved areas, and I look forward to contributing to Inozyme’s mission of addressing these urgent unmet needs.”
Prior to Athenex, Dr. Gunter served as chief medical officer at Kuur Therapeutics (formerly Cell Medica), where he headed the medical affairs, clinical operations, and regulatory affairs departments. He also previously held positions of increasing responsibility at Hospira, Inc., including vice president, clinical development, and global medical director for hematology-oncology. Before Hospira, Dr. Gunter held positions at Zymequest, ViaCell, and Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. While at Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc., he played an integral role in the global regulatory strategy for Replagal, an enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) approved for Fabry disease. He also previously served as president of the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT), where he played a worldwide leadership role in promoting understanding of the clinical, regulatory, manufacturing, and marketing requirements for the successful development of cell and gene therapies.
Prior to his biotech career, Dr. Gunter worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a medical officer in the Center for Biologics and was appointed acting deputy director of the Division of Cell and Gene Therapy within the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. He also served for five years on the FDA’s Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee.
Dr. Gunter earned his M.D. from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, and also has a B.S. in Biological Sciences, with Distinction, from Stanford University. His postdoctoral training included Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
About Inozyme Pharma
Inozyme Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: INZY) is a clinical-stage rare disease biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of diseases of abnormal mineralization impacting the vasculature, soft tissue, and skeleton. Through our in-depth understanding of the biological pathways involved in mineralization, we are pursuing the development of therapeutics to address the underlying causes of these debilitating diseases. It is well established that two genes, ENPP1 and ABCC6, play key roles in a critical mineralization pathway and that defects in these genes lead to abnormal mineralization. We are initially focused on developing a novel therapy, INZ-701, to treat the rare genetic diseases of ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies. INZ-701 is currently in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency.
Inozyme Pharma was founded in 2017 by Joseph Schlessinger, Ph.D., Demetrios Braddock, M.D., Ph.D., and Axel Bolte, MSc, MBA, with technology developed by Dr. Braddock and licensed from Yale University. For more information, please visit www.inozyme.com.
