CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bicara Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing dual-action biologics to elicit a potent and durable immune response, today announced the appointment of David Raben, M.D., as chief medical officer. Dr. Raben joins Bicara with more than 25 years of biopharma and academic translational oncology experience, having most recently served as vice president of global product development and product general manager, oncology, at Amgen.
“David brings extensive oncology drug development experience to Bicara, including in the area of head and neck cancer, and we are thrilled to welcome him to our team,” said Claire Mazumdar, Ph.D., MBA, chief executive officer of Bicara Therapeutics. “This is an exciting time for Bicara following our recent ASCO presentation of positive interim data from our Phase 1/1b study of BCA101 in HPV-negative, recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and we believe David’s expertise will help propel Bicara as we continue to execute in the clinic and enter our next phase of growth.”
“Bicara’s dual-action approach to treat solid tumors and compelling clinical data presents a unique opportunity to be part of an exciting company that has the potential to make a significant impact for people living with cancer,” said Dr. Raben. “I look forward to helping advance Bicara’s first-in-class bifunctional EGFR/TGF-β Inhibitor, BCA101, in clinical development for head and neck cancer and other solid tumors, as well as the company’s additional pipeline programs.”
Dr. Raben is a board-certified radiation oncologist. In his most recent role as vice president in oncology development at Amgen, his work centered on driving the anti-DLL3 program in neuroendocrine cancers. Prior to Amgen, Dr. Raben served as vice president and franchise leader, clinical development oncology, at Genentech, where his work centered around precision medicine and immunotherapy trials in head and neck and thoracic cancer, in both late-stage and locally advanced settings. Dr. Raben has spent more than 20 years as a professor and an associate member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, where his main areas of focus have been evaluating and combining novel biologic therapies in the laboratory and in clinical trials for patients with locally advanced cancers of the head and neck and lung.
About Bicara Therapeutics
Bicara Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class biologics engineered to combine the precision of well validated, tumor-targeting antibodies with the power of tumor microenvironment modulators. The company’s bifunctional antibodies are designed to deliver an immunomodulatory payload directly to the tumor microenvironment to ramp up immune cell activity, offering the potential for synergistic therapeutic impact at the site of the tumor. Bicara’s lead product candidate, BCA101, is a first-in-class EGFR/TGF-β-trap bifunctional antibody currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/1b study. For more information, please visit www.bicara.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.
