On August 17, 2020 Seneca Therapeutics, Inc. ("Seneca Therapeutics") reported the appointment of James M. Hussey as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors (Press release, Seneca Therapeutics, AUG 17, 2020, View Source [SID1234563716]). Jim has been a CEO or President for nearly 20 years and a C-Suite member at several successful biotech/pharmaceutical companies.
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"We are pleased to have a veteran CEO from the biotech/pharmaceutical industry like Jim join our team," said Dr. Paul Hallenbeck, President, Chief Scientific Officer and Founder of Seneca Therapeutics. "We will be working together to advance Seneca Valley Virus ("SVV-001") into clinical trials later in 2021".
"I am excited to join the Seneca Therapeutics team to develop SVV-001. Based on the data generated to date, I am extremely optimistic about the clinical trials planned for next year," said James M Hussey, CEO of Seneca Therapeutics. "I’m convinced that oncolytic viruses are key to the future of immunotherapy and that SVV-001 is the best-in-class oncolytic virus. SVV-001 potentially addresses over 60% of solid tumors—including some of the most refractory cancers– with safe, effective immuno-oncology products that harness the body’s own immune system to defeat cancer."
Jim joins the Seneca Therapeutics team at a pivotal moment. The company plans on entering Phase I-II clinical studies with SVV-001 in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in neuroendocrine cancers in 2021. Seneca Therapeutics recently received FDA guidance on its clinical protocol and IND. Further, the company also recently secured important intellectual property rights including enabling technology that will allow Seneca Therapeutics to develop a companion diagnostic to identify patients likeliest to respond to SVV-001 using TEM8 and potentially other molecules. TEM8, the receptor of SVV-001, is expressed on the surface of the majority of solid tumor cells but minimally expressed on normal cells and supports SVV-001’s extensive safety profile as determined in numerous animal models and multiple clinical trials. TEM8 is expressed in many solid tumors including breast, lung, pancreatic, skin, and neuroendocrine cancers.