On April 30, 2018 Humanigen, Inc. (OTCQB:HGEN), a biopharmaceutical company developing cutting-edge CAR-T optimization and oncology treatments, reported Tarek Sahmoud, M.D., Ph.D., as its chief medical officer, initially a part-time role reporting to the company’s chief executive officer (Press release, Humanigen, APR 30, 2018, View Source [SID1234525836]).
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Dr. Sahmoud brings more than 25 years of experience in oncology drug development and medical and regulatory affairs to Humanigen. During his career, Dr. Sahmoud has led global oncology drug development programs in solid tumor and hematologic malignancies through regulatory approval and has advised on CAR-T programs. Dr. Sahmoud currently consults with leading CAR-T companies on their clinical and regulatory plans. He recently served as chief medical officer for H3 Biomedicine, a precision medicine company, and prior to that, he was vice president, oncology clinical development and medical affairs (USA), and global associate therapeutic area head (global) at Boehringer Ingelheim. He has served at Celgene as corporate vice president and global head of clinical development in solid tumors and immunoncology. Previously, Dr. Sahmoud was at Novartis as vice president and senior global clinical program head, oncology global drug development. He also held roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb as executive director, global medical affairs, oncology and at AstraZeneca as senior global medical director and US physician for breast cancer. In addition, he served at EORTC where he was responsible for all clinical trials coordination for several of the disease groups. Dr. Sahmoud received his medical degree from Cairo University Medical School, Egypt, and he holds a Ph.D. in public health, epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of Bordeaux II, France.
"Tarek is a strong addition to the Humanigen team, as he brings world-class abilities in oncology drug development and global regulatory strategy, coupled with domain expertise in the rapidly evolving CAR-T and immunoncology fields," said Cameron Durrant, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Humanigen. "Tarek will be instrumental in helping to guide the impending start of our clinical work to show lenzilumab’s potential to optimize CAR-T therapy to make it safer, better and more routine – and position our platform portfolio for maximum value for our stakeholders."
"I am excited to work with Humanigen and its clear opportunity and scientific rationale in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor’s (GM-CSF) role in CAR-T-induced toxicities, including the unmet need of neurotoxicity, and optimizing CAR-T therapy overall," said Dr. Sahmoud. "I look forward to guiding the strategy and execution of Humanigen’s development programs to fulfill the ultimate goal of helping patients with significant unmet needs in oncology."
About Lenzilumab
Lenzilumab is a first-in-class, novel Humaneered recombinant monoclonal antibody designed to target and neutralize circulating granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), the myeloid inflammation factor involved in the recruitment of myeloid cells to a tumor and a central actor in leukocyte differentiation, autoimmunity and inflammation. There is also extensive evidence linking GM-CSF expression to serious and potentially life-threatening side effects in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, such as neurotoxicity and Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS). Humanigen is working with leading CAR-T experts to develop lenzilumab as a potential prophylactic treatment to minimize neurotoxicity associated with CAR-T cancer therapy. In addition, lenzilumab is currently being evaluated as a potential treatment for rare leukemias in a phase 1 trial (NCT02546284) in patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) with additional potential in juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), a rare pediatric cancer. In previous clinical trials, lenzilumab has shown to be safe and well-tolerated in more than 100 patients, including those with rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and healthy volunteers. It is a potent inhibitor of GM-CSF in vivo.