CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 12 Mersana, a cancer therapeuticscompany, announced today that Timothy B. Lowinger, Ph.D., has joined thecompany as Chief Scientific Officer.
"We are thrilled that Tim is now a part of the Mersana team," said Julie A.Olson, President and CEO at Mersana. "His extensive leadership in oncologyresearch and his experience with polymer-based drug systems are an ideal matchfor Mersana. In addition to the important impact he will have on our newestprograms, his contributions toward advancing our lead product, XMT-1001, andour second product, XMT-1107, will be significant."
Dr. Lowinger has over fifteen years of experience in the pharmaceuticalindustry and brings a wealth of international experience to his new role inleading our Research team. From 1993 to 2007, Dr. Lowinger held a number ofpositions at Bayer Pharmaceuticals in the US, Germany, and Japan, where hecontributed to the discovery of more than 15 pre-clinical and clinicalcandidates in a variety of indications. Most notably, he led the team thatdiscovered and advanced Nexavar(R) (sorafenib), an anti-cancer agent that isapproved for indications including renal and hepatocellular cancer, with PhaseIII studies underway in non-small-cell lung and other cancers. Later, as theVP and Department Head of Chemistry Research in West Haven, he managed adepartment of scientists in the disciplines of medicinal, analytical,computational, combinatorial and synthetic chemistry, focused on the discoveryand clinical proof-of-concept of new therapeutics for the treatment of cancer,diabetes and obesity. He has most recently been VP of Chemistry andPharmaceutical Sciences at Angiotech Pharmaceuticals where he managed amultidisciplinary team of scientists focused on developing polymer-basedpharmaceutical products for local administration as well as medical devicesincorporating pharmaceutical agents. Dr. Lowinger has a BSc in Chemistry and aPh.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of British Columbia inVancouver, Canada.
About Mersana Therapeutics, Inc.
Mersana, a privately held, venture backed company, utilizes itsproprietary nanotechnology platform to transform existing and experimentalanti-cancer agents into new, patentable drugs with superior pharmaceuticalproperties. The key component of Mersana's platform is Fleximer(R), a novel,biodegradable and bio-inert polymer that can be chemically linked to smallmolecules and biologics. Mersana's pipeline includes XMT-1001, aFleximer-camptothecin conjugate which is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials,and several preclinical oncology compounds. Mersana's investors includeFidelity Biosciences, ProQuest Investments, Rho Ventures, Harris & HarrisGroup and PureTech Ventures.
Fleximer(R) is a trademark of Mersana Therapeutics, Inc.
SOURCE Mersana Therapeutics, Inc.