Clinical stage immuno-oncology company Imugene Limited (ASX:IMU) has appointed Dr John Byon as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development.
Dr Byon boasts an extensive background in the development of novel therapeutics for cancer patients. He has occupied several leadership roles at major biopharmaceutical companies, spearheading clinical development activities.
Most recently, Dr Byon served as Vice President of Clinical Development in Hematology and subsequently in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at Fate Therapeutics. Here, he directed the clinical strategy for the Hematology portfolio, which comprises five assets in B-cell malignancies, AML, and Multiple Myeloma. He provided oversight for all ongoing Hematology trials as well as playing a pivotal role in restructuring the Clinical Development team.
Before his tenure at Fate, Dr Byon was the Senior Medical Director, Head of Clinical Science at Lyell Immunopharma. In this capacity, Dr Byon led clinical strategy development for portfolio assets, established the internal clinical science function, and represented clinical development in joint collaborations.
Additionally, Dr Byon served as Senior Medical Director at Juno Therapeutics, where as the Global Clinical Development Lead he was instrumental in the clinical development of orvacabtagene autoleucel (orva-cel/JCARH125) for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and other novel CAR T-cell targets.
He also assumed various Medical Director roles over a four-year span at Genentech, focused largely on managing clinical development activities for Tecentriq (Atezolizumab) in various hematological malignancies. During this period, he conceptualized new clinical trials and represented the company at global advisory board meetings.
Dr Byon holds both a Doctor of Medicine and a Doctor of Philosophy from Tulane University. Beyond his corporate experience, Dr Byon has contributed to multiple academic publications in the hematology and oncology spaces.
There is an excellent correlation with Dr Byon’s experience and our portfolio of assets at Imugene, making him an outstanding fit for the Company. We look forward to him bringing his leadership and new perspectives into the clinical development team,” Imugene CEO and Managing Director, Leslie Chong, said.