Turning Point Therapeutics Names Siegfried Reich as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: TPTX), a precision oncology company developing next-generation therapies that target genetic drivers of cancer, today announced the appointment of Siegfried Reich, Ph.D. as executive vice president and chief scientific officer effective March 2. Dr. Reich has over 25 years of pharmaceutical and biotech experience developing more than 20 drug candidates, including the approved drugs Viracept® for HIV and the tyrosine kinase inhibitor Inlyta® for the treatment of kidney cancer.
Dr. Reich was most recently senior vice president of research and co-founder of eFFECTOR Therapeutics where he led discovery of three first-in-class small-molecule inhibitors, of MNK (tomivosertib), eIF4A (zotatifin), and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E). eIF4E, now in development under a collaboration with Pfizer, is an oncogenic driver located downstream from both the RAS and PI3K signaling pathways that is linked to poor prognosis and resistance to certain cancer therapies.
“With a strong commitment to build on the four internally discovered drug candidates in our pipeline, we wanted to attract a proven leader and visionary CSO to advance our research strategy,” said Dr. Athena Countouriotis, president and chief executive officer. “Siegfried is an ideal fit for our team, with deep discovery and novel target-identification expertise, and a proven track record of developing drug candidates for difficult to drug targets through disciplined discovery and medicinal-, structure- and fragment-based chemistry.”
Prior to eFFECTOR, Dr. Reich was a research fellow at the Lilly Biotech Center in San Diego, where he led fragment-based and structure-based design efforts across the Lilly discovery portfolio. Previously he was vice president and head of drug discovery at SGX; vice president and head of viral and ophthalmic diseases at Pfizer; and director and head of medicinal chemistry at Agouron. Dr. Reich is an inventor of two marketed products, the TKI Inlyta® (axitinib) and protease inhibitor Viracept® (nelfinavir), and a coinventor of numerous candidates currently in clinical development. Dr. Reich is also a past recipient of the PhRMA Discoverers Award. Dr. Reich completed his post-doctoral training in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from San Diego State University.
“It is an exciting time to join Turning Point Therapeutics as the company develops its existing pipeline, continues to leverage the current platform and seeks to further expand its efforts to discover and develop novel therapeutics that address unmet needs in oncology,” said Dr. Reich. “I look forward to working with the talented team in place today and building on the company’s pipeline for the future.”
About Turning Point Therapeutics Inc.
Turning Point Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision oncology company with a pipeline of internally discovered investigational drugs designed to address key limitations of existing cancer therapies. The company’s lead drug candidate, repotrectinib, is a next-generation kinase inhibitor targeting the ROS1 and TRK oncogenic drivers of non-small cell lung cancer and advanced solid tumors. Repotrectinib, which is currently being studied in a registrational Phase 2 study in adults and a Phase 1/2 study in pediatric patients, has shown antitumor activity and durable responses among kinase inhibitor treatment-naïve and pre-treated patients. The company’s pipeline of drug candidates also includes TPX-0022, targeting MET, CSF1R and SRC, which is currently being studied in a Phase 1 trial of patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring genetic alterations in MET; TPX-0046, targeting RET and SRC, which is currently being studied in a Phase 1/2 trial of patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring genetic alterations in RET; and TPX-0131, a next-generation ALK inhibitor entering IND-enabling studies. Turning Point’s next-generation kinase inhibitors are designed to bind to their targets with greater precision and affinity than existing therapies, with a novel, compact structure that has demonstrated an ability to potentially overcome treatment resistance common with other kinase inhibitors. The company is driven to develop therapies that mark a turning point for patients in their cancer treatment. For more information, visit www.tptherapeutics.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, the efficacy, safety, therapeutic and commercial potential of Turning Point Therapeutics’ drug candidates, and the progress of Turning Point Therapeutics’ drug discovery and development programs and clinical trials. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as “plans”, “will”, “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “goal,” “potential” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Turning Point Therapeutics’ current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with Turning Point Therapeutics’ business in general, and the other risks described in Turning Point Therapeutics’ filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Turning Point Therapeutics undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.
Contact:
Jim Mazzola
jim.mazzola@tptherapeutics.com
858-342-8272
