Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced the appointment of three new executives to its management team.
Joining the company, are Felix Geissler, M.D., Ph.D., as Vice President of Medical Affairs, Kimberly Steinmann, M.D., as Vice President of Clinical Development, and Dora Ferrari, as Vice President of Clinical Operations. They will be reporting directly to Dr. Reinhard von Roemeling, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development.
“We are pleased to welcome Felix, Kim and Dora to our management team. They are outstanding professionals in the industry and bring expertise that we believe will strengthen our internal capabilities as we look to advance the development of our clinical drug candidates, CA-4948 and CI-8993. We look forward to their contributions as we strive to achieve our mission to develop innovative and differentiated therapeutics that improve the lives of cancer patients,” said James Dentzer, President and CEO.
About Felix Geissler, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs
Dr. Geissler joins Curis with over two decades of progressive experience developing and directing strategic operations and health care management initiatives; he is a board-certified surgeon and immunologist with a background in global medical affairs and clinical research. He joins Curis from Horizon Therapeutics serving as Vice President, Medical Affairs, where he led and directed the development and execution of the Medical Affairs strategy and operations for their comprehensive marketed product portfolio and investigational products across rare and ultra-rare disease indications. Previously, Dr. Geissler served as Chief Medical Officer at Lumicell. Earlier, he served as Sanofi’s Vice President & Medical Head of Oncology, Hematology, and Transplant. Dr. Geissler began his career in industry at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Novartis. He received his M.D. from the University of Innsbruck (Austria)/University of Munich (Germany) and his Ph.D. from the University of Tuebingen (Germany). His post-doctoral scientific research was conducted in transplant immunology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
About Kimberly Steinmann, M.D., Vice President of Clinical Development
Dr. Steinmann joins Curis with over twenty years of clinical experience; she is a board-certified pediatric hematologist/oncologist and pediatric emergency medicine physician with a background in global clinical development and clinical research. Previously, she worked at Takeda, where she served as consultant, to their oncology development program. Before Takeda, she worked at Grifols, as an Executive Medical Director for Orphan Diseases. This included oversight of multiple programs, alliances, and global clinical development programs. Earlier, Dr. Steinmann worked at Boehringer Ingelheim where she held positions of increasing responsibility in Clinical Development and Medical Affairs with an oncology focus. Dr. Steinmann practiced for nearly a decade at Yale’s Children’s Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut and at the Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. She received her M.D. and Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree from St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri.
About Dora Ferrari, Vice President of Clinical Operations
Ms. Ferrari is an end-to-end drug development professional with twenty years of biotech industry experience. Previously, she led program management and clinical operations at Aileron Therapeutics as Vice President, Clinical Development and Program Management. Earlier, Ms. Ferrari had a lengthy tenure at ArQule, working in positions of increasing responsibilities within clinical operations and clinical development in both oncology and rare disease. While at ArQule, Ms. Ferrari was responsible for leading programs from pre-IND through all stages of clinical development. Of note, Ms. Ferrari led the development team responsible for ArQule’s BTK program from IND enabling through early-stage clinical operations leading to the acquisition of ArQule by Merck. Prior to ArQule, Ms. Ferrari worked at Ziopharm Oncology and Epix Pharmaceuticals where she was part of the team leading to the FDA approval of Vasovist. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
About Curis, Inc.
Curis is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. In 2015, Curis entered into a collaboration with Aurigene in the areas of immuno-oncology and precision oncology. As part of this collaboration, Curis has exclusive licenses to oral small molecule antagonists of immune checkpoints including the VISTA/PDL1 antagonist CA-170, and the TIM3/PDL1 antagonist CA-327, as well as the IRAK4 kinase inhibitor, CA-4948. CA-4948 is currently undergoing testing in a Phase 1/2 trial in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma both as a monotherapy and in combination with BTK inhibitor ibrutinib. Curis is also evaluating CA-4948 in a Phase 1/2 trial in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, for which it has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In addition, Curis is engaged in a collaboration with ImmuNext for development of CI-8993, a monoclonal anti-VISTA antibody, which is currently undergoing testing in a Phase 1 trial in patients with solid tumors. Curis is also party to a collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, under which Genentech and Roche are commercializing Erivedge® for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma. For more information, visit Curis’ website at www.curis.com.
