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CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMPI), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing its proprietary technology to harness the power of the immune system to combat cancer, today announced the addition of Joy Yan, M.D., Ph.D. to its Board of Directors.
“Joy’s impressive track record in immuno-oncology focused clinical development will be valuable as we continue to advance vidutolimod toward registration in melanoma and proof of concept in additional indications,” commented Alan Fuhrman, Interim CEO and President of Checkmate. “We are pleased to welcome Joy to Checkmate’s Board.”
Dr. Yan currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at Ambrx Biopharma Inc., a biopharmaceutical company with an expanded genetic code technology platform, where she led the pipeline strategy and quickly advanced three antibody drug conjugate development programs. Previously, at Bristol Myers Squibb, she led the successful development of multiple oncology products from strategic planning through global submissions and approvals, including BMS’ first FDA Pilot Programs (RTOR, Project ORBIS, AAid) for nivolumab and ipilimumab. She also has broad clinical development experience from working at Janssen Pharmaceutical and Bayer AG, where she led Phase I, II and III studies exploring a variety of MOAs and evaluated NMEs (daratumumab, radium-223, anti-IL3R, Bi-specifics, ADCs, TKIs) across multiple tumor types. Dr. Yan completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins University. She received her M.D. from China Medical University and completed her residency and clinical fellowship at the University of Washington.
“I am excited to join Checkmate’s Board and work with this science-oriented team,” said Dr. Yan. “Checkmate’s unique DNA and RNA delivery platform could transform drug development in oncology. The impressive monotherapy clinical data of vidutolimod differentiates this drug from other innate immune activators and demonstrates the uniqueness of CpG A from CpG B or C.”
Concurrent with the appointment of Dr. Yan, Nilesh Kumar, Ph.D. notified Checkmate he will retire from Checkmate’s Board and the Compensation Committee of the Board, effective December 31, 2021.
“On behalf of the entire Board, I thank Nilesh for his contributions to Checkmate. We wish him the very best in his future endeavors,” said Mike Powell, Chairman of the Board.
About Checkmate
Checkmate Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing its proprietary technology to harness the power of the immune system to combat cancer. Checkmate Pharmaceuticals’ product candidate, vidutolimod (CMP-001), is an advanced generation Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, delivered as a biologic virus-like particle utilizing a CpG-A oligodeoxynucleotide as a key component, designed to trigger the body’s innate immune system to attack tumors in combination with other therapies. Information regarding Checkmate Pharmaceuticals is available at www.checkmatepharma.com.
Availability of Other Information About Checkmate Pharmaceuticals
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