Jounce Therapeutics Appoints Jigar Raythatha to its Board of Directors
September 15 2021 - 08:00AM
Jounce Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: JNCE), a clinical-stage company
focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer
immunotherapies and predictive biomarkers, today announced the
appointment of former chief executive officer of Constellation
Pharmaceuticals and former Jounce chief business officer, Jigar
Raythatha, to its board of directors.
“It’s incredibly exciting to welcome Jigar to our board of
directors. Not only does Jigar bring over 20 years of biotechnology
industry experience, but he also comes with a unique position as an
early employee of the company at its inception,” said Richard
Murray, Ph.D., chief executive officer and president of Jounce
Therapeutics. “Jigar’s leadership and business development
expertise will enhance our board’s diversified perspective. He was
an integral part of creating the Jounce we know today, and we all
look forward to collaborating with him once again.”
“Over the course of the last several years, Jounce has
established a strong position as a leader in novel immuno-oncology
drug discovery, and I am thrilled to join the board at this time in
the company’s life cycle. Jounce’s recent growth, pipeline
diversification and partnership strategy are core to its track
record as a leader in transforming the immuno-oncology landscape,”
said Jigar Raythatha. “I look forward to providing insights from my
prior experience with the company, coupled with my perspective as a
former chief executive officer in the biotechnology industry.”
Jigar served as the chief executive officer of Constellation
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2017 until its acquisition by MorphoSys
AG in July 2021. Jigar is also currently a member of the American
Cancer Society New England Area Board. Before joining Constellation
as chief executive officer, Jigar served as chief business officer
of Jounce, where he helped build the company from inception to a
100-person, publicly traded organization. Earlier in his career,
Jigar worked with Red Abbey Venture Partners and held roles of
increasing responsibility at Biogen and as a management consultant
at A.T. Kearney.
In addition to Mr. Raythatha’s appointment, Jounce announced
that founding board member and previous interim chief executive
officer, Cary Pfeffer, M.D., a partner at Third Rock Ventures, will
resign from the Jounce board, effective December 31, 2021. Dr.
Pfeffer was a founding member of Jounce’s board of directors since
2013 and also served as chair of the Jounce board from 2014 to
2016.
“On behalf of the Jounce Board of Directors, I want to thank
Cary for his years of dedication to Jounce’s science, team and
mission,” said Perry Karsen, chair of the Board of Jounce
Therapeutics. “Cary’s initial vision, his continuous guidance, and
his unwavering support were invaluable to the creation and
development of Jounce’s Translational Science Platform, helping us
further our goal of matching the right immunotherapy to the right
patients for meaningful and long-lasting therapeutic benefit.”
About Jounce TherapeuticsJounce Therapeutics,
Inc. is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company dedicated to
transforming the treatment of cancer by developing therapies that
enable the immune system to attack tumors and provide long-lasting
benefits to patients through a biomarker-driven approach. Jounce
currently has multiple development stage programs ongoing while
simultaneously advancing additional early-stage assets from its
robust discovery engine based on its Translational Science
Platform. Jounce’s highest priority program, JTX-8064, is a LILRB2
(ILT4) receptor antagonist shown to reprogram immune-suppressive
tumor associated macrophages to an anti-tumor state in preclinical
studies. A Phase 1 clinical trial, named INNATE, of JTX-8064 as a
monotherapy and in combination with pimivalimab (formerly
JTX-4014), Jounce’s internal PD-1 inhibitor, is currently enrolling
patients with advanced solid tumors. Jounce’s most advanced product
candidate, vopratelimab, is a monoclonal antibody that binds to and
activates ICOS and is currently being studied in the SELECT Phase 2
trial. Pimivalimab is a PD-1 inhibitor intended for combination use
in the INNATE and SELECT trials and with Jounce’s broader pipeline.
Additionally, Jounce obtained IND clearance for and exclusively
licensed worldwide rights to JTX-1811, a monoclonal antibody
targeting CCR8 and designed to selectively deplete T regulatory
cells in the tumor microenvironment, to Gilead Sciences, Inc. For
more information, please visit www.jouncetx.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
StatementsVarious statements in this release concerning
Jounce’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including
without limitation, Jounce’s expectations regarding the progress
and results of clinical trials of Jounce’s product candidates,
including JTX-8064, vopratelimab and pimivalimab; and
identification, selection and enrollment of patients for Jounce’s
clinical trials may constitute forward-looking statements for the
purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws and
are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions.
You should not place reliance on these forward-looking statements,
which often include words such as “goal,” “will” or similar terms,
variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Although
Jounce believes that the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements are reasonable, Jounce cannot guarantee
such outcomes. Actual results may differ materially from those
indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of
various important factors, including, without limitation, risks
that the COVID-19 pandemic may disrupt Jounce’s business and/or the
global healthcare system more severely than anticipated, which may
have the effect of delaying enrollment and completion of Jounce’s
ongoing clinical trials, or delaying timelines or data disclosures
and regulatory submissions for its product candidates; Jounce’s
ability to successfully demonstrate the efficacy and safety of its
product candidates and future product candidates; the preclinical
and clinical results for its product candidates, which may not
support further development and marketing approval; the potential
advantages of Jounce’s product candidates; Jounce’s ability to
successfully manage its clinical trials; the development plans of
its product candidates and any companion or complementary
diagnostics; management of Jounce’s supply chain for the delivery
of drug product and materials for use in clinical trials and
research and development activities; actions of regulatory
agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of
preclinical studies and clinical trials of Jounce’s product
candidates; Jounce’s ability to obtain, maintain and protect its
intellectual property; Jounce’s ability to manage operating
expenses and capital expenditures; and those risks more fully
discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Jounce’s most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission as well as discussions of potential risks,
uncertainties, and other important factors in Jounce’s subsequent
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All such
statements speak only as of the date made, and Jounce undertakes no
obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
Investor and Media Contacts:
Mark YoreJounce Therapeutics, Inc.+1-857-200-1255
myore@jouncetx.com
Julie SeidelStern Investor
Relations+1-212-362-1200Julie.Seidel@sternir.com
Jounce Therapeutics (NASDAQ:JNCE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Jounce Therapeutics (NASDAQ:JNCE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024