Mr. Soni Invests $5 Million in Summit while
Joining Executive Team
In Corresponding Appointments, Dave Gancarz,
Urte Gayko, PhD, Fong Clow, DSc, & Allen S. Yang, MD, PhD,
Elevated to Newly Established Leadership Roles
Summit Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SMMT) (“Summit,” “we,” or the
“Company”) today announced that Manmeet S. Soni has been appointed
as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately.
Mr. Soni will remain a member of the Company’s Board of
Directors.
“Manmeet Soni has few peers in this industry, and his track
record speaks for itself,” stated Dr. Maky Zanganeh, Chief
Executive Officer and President of Summit. “With our focus on
bringing to life our mission to improve the quality and potential
duration of lives of patients facing serious unmet medical needs
via our investigational novel bispecific antibody, ivonescimab,* we
are thrilled to add an accomplished, world-class biopharmaceutical
executive to our leadership team. Manmeet will bring substantial
value to our organization as we engage in our next steps, including
the continued expansion of our organization and the potential
commercialization of ivonescimab.”
“Manmeet provides excellent stewardship and guidance as a member
of our Board, but we are incredibly excited that he has now decided
to join us as a member of our executive team,” added Robert W.
Duggan, the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“Leveraging his leadership and wisdom on a daily basis is a
powerful addition to the already formidable Team Summit. I am
grateful for the trust he has displayed in Maky, me, and our team
in joining our mission full-time.”
Mr. Soni has over 20 years of financial and operational
leadership experience and joins Summit from Reata Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., where he was President, Chief Operating Officer, & Chief
Financial Officer. His tenure at Reata culminated in its sale to
Biogen Inc. for $7.5 billion. Prior to joining Reata, Mr. Soni was
the CFO at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He was also the CFO at
Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was purchased by Takeda
Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for $5.4 billion in 2017. Mr. Soni was the
CFO at Pharmacyclics, Inc., which, along with the leadership of Mr.
Duggan and Dr. Zanganeh, was sold to AbbVie Inc. for $21 billion in
2015. He serves on the Board of Directors of Pulse Biosciences,
Inc. and was previously a board member at Arena Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., which was later sold to Pfizer Inc. for $6.7 billion. Mr.
Soni has led an array of functions including finance,
manufacturing, various strategic functions including ex-US
commercial strategy and business development, as well as quality,
risk, and program management, amongst others. Throughout his
leadership career, he has raised over $7 billion through a variety
of financing and business development deals.
“Joining Team Summit represents a transformational opportunity
to make a material difference for the better, and to improve the
lives of cancer patients who face significant challenges,” added
Mr. Soni. “I am passionate about the mission and goals of Summit:
prioritizing the patient to bring about new advancements in
oncology with patient, physician, caregiver, and societal-friendly
medicines. I am honored to get to work more closely with this
exceptional team as we seek to positively impact the outlook for
patients with therapies that improve both quality and duration of
life.”
In conjunction with his appointment as COO, Mr. Soni is also
purchasing shares of the Company worth $5 million via a private
placement. In his role as COO, Mr. Soni will be responsible for all
commercial activities, finance, manufacturing, legal, information
technology, and human resources.
Additional Summit Leadership Appointments
Today, Summit announces that, effective immediately, the
following elevated appointments have been made:
- Dave Gancarz as Chief Business & Strategy Officer
- Urte Gayko, PhD, as Chief Regulatory, Quality, &
Pharmacovigilance Officer
- Fong Clow, DSc, as Chief Biometrics Officer
- Allen S. Yang, MD, PhD, as Chief Medical Officer
“We are very pleased with the progress we are making over the
past nine months since we have completed our deal with Akeso to
in-license ivonescimab,” noted Mr. Duggan. “Along with Maky, this
core group of leaders that we have appointed to these new,
well-earned leadership positions has led Team Summit to reach these
heights. We are well positioned to achieve our goals: growing
awareness and understanding of ivonescimab in North America and
Europe and timely progression of our current and planned clinical
trials. Team Summit is well-positioned for the next chapter of its
growth and prosperity.”
“I am extremely proud to be surrounded by such an outstanding
leadership team,” added Dr. Zanganeh. “Team Summit brings a wealth
of experiences that I believe sets us apart from our peers and
provides us with the best opportunity for success as an
organization. I would like to congratulate each of our newly
elevated leaders on this well-deserved recognition, and I look
forward to our expanding success as we continue to embark on our
mission.”
Mr. Gancarz joined Summit in November 2020 and has held roles of
increasing breadth and responsibility. Of note, Mr. Gancarz led the
transaction between Summit and Akeso, Inc. to in-license the novel,
potentially first-in-class bispecific antibody, ivonescimab, that
has become the cornerstone of Summit’s product pipeline. Mr.
Gancarz brings over 15 years of strategic leadership, operational,
and financial experience. He previously held various leadership
roles at Athenahealth, Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Mr.
Gancarz earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Stonehill
College. As Chief Business & Strategy Officer, he is
responsible for business development, corporate strategy,
stakeholder relations, alliance management, program management, and
medical affairs.
Dr. Gayko initially joined Summit as a member of the Board of
Directors before transitioning from the Board into a full-time role
on our leadership team in April 2022. Dr. Gayko was previously the
Global Head of Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance at
Pharmacyclics, as well as Senior Vice President of Drug Development
& Regulatory Affairs at Nektar Therapeutics. She brings over 20
years of experience in areas encompassing regulatory and clinical
development ranging from pre-commercial entities to large
biopharmaceutical companies, including Amgen Inc. and AbbVie Inc.
Dr. Gayko led the regulatory approval process for 12 US indications
for IMBRUVICA® (ibrutinib) while at Pharmacyclics. She performed
her PhD research in molecular and cellular biology at Harvard
University. Dr. Gayko is responsible for regulatory affairs,
quality assurance, and safety sciences in her role as Chief
Regulatory, Quality, & Pharmacovigilance Officer.
Dr. Clow joined Summit in July 2021 after over a decade of
leadership at Pharmacyclics and later AbbVie. Dr. Clow brings over
30 years of experience, leading extensive teams in biometrics and
drug development, including leadership roles at Genentech, Inc. and
Novacea, Inc. Specifically, her leadership in biometrics and drug
development has contributed to 19 approvals across oncology,
cardiovascular, and neurology indications. Dr. Clow has published
over 60 manuscripts and conference abstracts. She received her
doctoral and master’s degrees from Harvard T.S. Chan School of
Public Health, where, in 2019, she received the prestigious Lagakos
Distinguished Alumni Award. In her role as Chief Biometrics
Officer, Dr. Clow is responsible for all biometrics-related
activities, including leading biostatistics and data
management.
Dr. Yang joined Summit in July 2023, leading clinical
development and research activities at Summit. Dr. Yang brings a
wealth of experience in clinical oncology, immunotherapy, and
bispecific antibody development through his over 20 years of
combined clinical and industry experience. Dr. Yang previously
served as Chief Medical Officer at Xencor, Inc. and was the acting
CMO at Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC after serving in roles of
increasing leadership responsibility starting with leading the
hematology and oncology therapeutic area. Dr. Yang was previously
on faculty at the University of Southern California, where he also
earned his medical degree and PhD. He performed his fellowship at
the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center where he was
Chief Fellow. Dr. Yang will continue to lead clinical development
and all research-related activities in his role as Chief Medical
Officer.
Summit Therapeutics’ Mission Statement
To build a viable, long-lasting health care organization that
assumes full responsibility for designing, developing, trial
execution and enrollment, regulatory submission and approval, and
successful commercialization of patient, physician, caregiver, and
societal-friendly medicinal therapy intended to: improve quality of
life, increase potential duration of life, and resolve serious
medical healthcare needs. To identify and control promising product
candidates based on exceptional scientific development and
administrational expertise, develop our products in a rapid,
cost-efficient manner, and to engage commercialization and/or
development partners when appropriate.
We accomplish this by building a team of world class
professional scientists and business administrators that apply
their experience and knowledge to this mission. Team Summit exists
to pose, strategize, and execute a path forward in medicinal
therapeutic health care that places Summit in a well-deserved, top
market share, leadership position. Team Summit assumes full
responsibility for stimulating continuous expansion of knowledge,
ability, capability, and well-being for all involved stakeholders
and highly-valued shareholders.
About Ivonescimab
Ivonescimab, known as SMT112 in the United States, Canada,
Europe, and Japan (Summit’s license territories), and as AK112 in
China and Australia, is a novel, potential first-in-class
investigational bispecific antibody combining the effects of
immunotherapy via a blockade of PD-1 with the anti-angiogenesis
effects associated with blocking VEGF into a single molecule.
Ivonescimab was discovered by Akeso Inc. (HKEX Code: 9926.HK) and
is currently engaged in multiple Phase III clinical trials. Summit
has begun its clinical development of ivonescimab in NSCLC,
enrolling the first patient in its license territory in 2023, with
multiple Phase III clinical trials intended to be initiated in
2023. Over 825 patients have been treated with ivonescimab in
clinical studies in China and Australia, with enrollment beginning
recently in the United States.
About Summit Therapeutics
Summit was founded in 2003 and our shares are listed on the
Nasdaq Global Market (symbol ‘SMMT’). We are headquartered in Menlo
Park, California, and we have additional offices in Oxford, UK.
For more information, please visit https://www.smmttx.com and
follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @summitplc.
Summit Forward-looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about the Company’s future
expectations, plans and prospects, including but not limited to,
statements about the clinical and preclinical development of the
Company’s product candidates, entry into and actions related to the
Company’s partnership with Akeso Inc., the therapeutic potential of
the Company’s product candidates, the potential commercialization
of the Company’s product candidates, the timing of initiation,
completion and availability of data from clinical trials, the
potential submission of applications for marketing approvals, the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s operations and
clinical trials, potential acquisitions and other statements
containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "project," "should," "target," "would," and similar
expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements as a result of various important
factors, including the results of our evaluation of the underlying
data in connection with the development and commercialization
activities for SMT112, the outcome of discussions with regulatory
authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration, the
uncertainties inherent in the initiation of future clinical trials,
availability and timing of data from ongoing and future clinical
trials, the results of such trials, and their success, and global
public health crises, including the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak,
that may affect timing and status of our clinical trials and
operations, whether preliminary results from a clinical trial will
be predictive of the final results of that trial or whether results
of early clinical trials or preclinical studies will be indicative
of the results of later clinical trials, whether business
development opportunities to expand the Company’s pipeline of drug
candidates, including without limitation, through potential
acquisitions of, and/or collaborations with, other entities occur,
expectations for regulatory approvals, laws and regulations
affecting government contracts and funding awards, availability of
funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and unforeseeable
operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements and other
factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of filings that the
Company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any
change to our ongoing trials could cause delays, affect our future
expenses, and add uncertainty to our commercialization efforts, as
well as to affect the likelihood of the successful completion of
clinical development of SMT112. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press
release represent the Company’s views only as of the date of this
release and should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s
views as of any subsequent date. The Company specifically disclaims
any obligation to update any forward-looking statements included in
this press release.
* Ivonescimab is an investigational therapy that is not approved
by any regulatory agency.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016629074/en/
Dave Gancarz Chief Business & Strategy Officer
investors@smmttx.com
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