NEEDHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Candel Therapeutics, Inc., a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel oncolytic viral immunotherapies, today announced that Carrie S. Cox has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Paul Manning, the outgoing Chairman, will continue to serve as a Director.
Ms. Cox has had an eminent career in the biopharmaceutical industry, both in operating roles and as a corporate director. She is currently the Chairman of Organon, a women’s health spinoff of Merck & Co. She was also recently the Chairman of Array Biopharma, which was acquired by Pfizer for $11.4 billion in 2019, as well as a Director on the Board of Celgene, which was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in a $74 billion transaction. Prior to her numerous board roles, she served as Executive Vice President and President of Schering-Plough’s Global Pharmaceutical Business, which generated approximately $16 billion in annual sales driven by an annual growth rate of 22%.
“I am grateful to Paul for his extraordinary support and the guidance he has provided in building Candel into what it is today and we look forward to his continued, deep involvement as a valued member of our Board of Directors,” said Paul Peter Tak, President and Chief Executive Officer of Candel. “We are all delighted to have Carrie join the Candel team and lead our Board of Directors. Her strategic insights will be key as we advance our late stage pipeline of agents with the potential to become important medicines for patients with cancer.”
Mr. Manning added, “I am thrilled with the progress that the Candel team has made under Paul Peter’s leadership and I look forward to continuing to work with and support the Candel team. Ms. Cox is an experienced pharmaceutical leader with an exceptional history of success. She is the ideal choice to lead our Board as Candel advances into the next phase of the company’s trajectory.”
Ms. Cox further commented, “I am proud to join Candel’s Board at this exciting time in the company’s growth. Candel has a rich pipeline of innovative oncolytic viral immunotherapies and I look forward to working closely with Candel’s management and my colleagues on the Board to progress these programs with such promise to benefit patients.”
Ms. Cox currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Organon, Cardinal Health, Selecta BioSciences, and Texas Instruments. Ms. Cox previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Humacyte, Inc., which she joined in 2010. Ms. Cox also served as Chairman of Prism Pharmaceuticals, sold to Baxter Corporation in 2011. Ms. Cox spent her early career at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals (now Novartis) in a variety of commercial roles. She was later President of Global Prescription Business at Pharmacia Corporation, Senior Vice President of Global Business Management at Pharmacia & Upjohn, as well as Vice President of Women’s Healthcare at Wyeth-Ayerst (all now Pfizer).
Fortune magazine named Ms. Cox to its List of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” six times. She is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
About Candel Therapeutics
Candel is a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on helping patients fight cancer with oncolytic viral immunotherapies. Our engineered viruses are designed to induce immunogenic cell death through direct viral-mediated cytotoxicity in cancer cells, thus releasing tumor neo-antigens and creating a pro-inflammatory microenvironment at the site of injection. Our approach combines an in-depth knowledge of viral immunotherapy with extensive clinical experience across a wide range of indications. Based on the broad range of data that we have generated from our preclinical models and clinical trials using our approach, we have observed what we believe to be a systemic immune response against locally injected tumors and their distant metastases. To learn more, visit www.candeltx.com.
