PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Context Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: CNTX), a women’s oncology company developing small molecule and immunotherapy treatments for breast and gynecological cancers, today announced the appointments of Christopher Beck as SVP of Operations and Mark Fletcher, Ph.D., as VP of R&D. Context also announced the planned retirement of its current Head of CMC, Bill Rencher, Ph.D., who will move into an advisory role with the Company.
“Context is in a pivotal phase of growth and change as we near key inflection points with our pipeline, bolstered by our recent private placement and initial public offering. As part of Context’s leadership, Mr. Beck and Dr. Fletcher will help guide Context’s R&D operations, leveraging their proven knowledge, capabilities, and leadership skills to help Context achieve its product development objectives. We celebrate Dr. Rencher’s distinguished pharmaceutical career and wish him well on his much deserved retirement,” said Martin Lehr, CEO of Context Therapeutics. “As we start 2022, we’re pleased with the strong team we’ve assembled to advance our lead product candidate onapristone extended release (ONA-XR) in breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancers, as well as our preclinical anti-claudin 6 bispecific antibody.”
Mr. Beck joins Context from Galera Therapeutics, where he served as VP of Program Management. Prior to Galera, Mr. Beck spent nearly a decade at Shire where he served in roles of increasing responsiblity and created the company’s first global project management and resource capacity planning capability. Throughout his career, Mr. Beck also held management positions at Merck and AstraZeneca, among others. He holds a B.S. in Information Technology from Drexel University and a M.B.A. from Penn State University.
“I’m delighted to join the Context team at this significant point in the Company’s evolution,” said Mr. Beck. “I look forward to leading Context’s operational efforts to help it deliver on the important work to advance medicines for women’s cancers.”
Prior to joining Context, Dr. Fletcher was VP of Product Development at Pharmaceutical Associates, Inc. where he led development, analytical, and regulatory activity. In prior roles, he served as Head of Non-Injectable R&D for Hikma Pharmaceutical U.S. Operations, CSO at Douglas Pharmaceuticals, and VP of Technical Operations and Regulatory Affairs at PBM Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Fletcher also held senior positions at Endo Health Solutions (Qualitest) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, among others. He holds a B.S. in Pharmacy and a M.S and Ph.D. in Industrial Pharmacy from University of Maryland.
“There exists a significant unmet need for more effective treatments for women’s hormone-driven cancers,” said Dr. Fletcher. “I look forward to collaborating with our internal and external development partners as we continue to progress the evaluation of ONA-XR’s potential benefit in the treatment of these cancers.”
About Context Therapeutics®
Context Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: CNTX), is a women’s oncology company developing small molecule and immunotherapy treatments to transform care for breast and gynecological cancers. The Company’s robust clinical program for lead candidate onapristone extended release (ONA-XR) comprises three Phase 2 clinical trials and one Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in hormone-driven breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer, as well as two Phase 0 biomarker pharmacodynamic trials in breast cancer. ONA-XR is a novel, first-in-class small molecule under development as a potent and specific antagonist of the progesterone receptor, a key unchecked mechanism in hormone-driven women’s cancers. Context is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, visit www.contexttherapeutics.com.
