Dublin, Ireland, August 5, 2015 – Inflection Biosciences Ltd, a private company developing highly innovative treatments for cancer, today announced the appointment of Professor Funda Meric-Bernstam, Chair of the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at MD Anderson, Houston, Texas, and Professor Josep Tabernero, Director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, to its panel of oncology advisors.
Dr Michael O’Neill, Co-Founder and Director of Research and Development at Inflection Biosciences commented “We are excited to have attracted such accomplished experts to support the onward development of our innovative treatments for cancer. They bring invaluable expertise in the translation and clinical development of novel cancer therapeutics including inhibitors targeting the PI3K and mTOR pathways.”
Professor Funda Meric-Bernstam
Funda Meric-Bernstam is the Chair of the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics - the Phase I Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Medical Director of the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (IPCT), and Professor in the Divisions of Cancer Medicine and Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. She has a basic and translational research program that is focused on molecular therapeutics, predominantly focused on PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling, to delineate the mechanism of action of each agent targeting this pathway and the molecular alterations useful to prospectively identify patients who will benefit most from each agent, and optimal combination therapies.
She has participated in, as well as led, trials including investigator-initiated trials, cooperative group trials, and industry sponsored trials. These trials have ranged from a window of opportunity trials, neoadjuvant therapy trials, a Phase I and II trials in the advanced cancer setting as well as new surgical techniques, new imaging devices and molecular diagnostics.
Professor Josep Tabernero, MD, Ph. D.
Josep Tabernero is currently the Head of the Medical Oncology Department and Head of the Gastrointestinal Tumors and Phase I Unit at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona and the Director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology. He is very actively involved in translational research and pharmacodynamic Phase I studies with molecular targeted therapies. He is especially devoted to Phase I and II studies with pharmacodynamic endpoints with novel agents directed to the membrane receptors, including PI3K and ERK signalling pathways.
Dr. Tabernero is a member of the Executive Board of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), currently holding the position of Treasurer and Chair of the Fellowships and Awards Committee. He is also member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), participating in its International Affairs Committee. He is actively involved in different editorial boards including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, Cancer Discovery, Clinical Colorectal Cancer and Annals of Oncology. Dr Tabernero holds MD and PhD degrees from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
About Inflection Biosciences
Inflection Biosciences Ltd, based in Dublin and London, is developing small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company's pipeline of highly innovative cancer treatments was licensed from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO). The pipeline comprises IBL-202 (PIM/PI3K inhibitor) and IBL-301 (PIM/PI3K/mTOR inhibitor), selected from a series of unique dual mechanism kinase inhibitors and the IBL-100 series (highly selective pan-PIM kinase inhibitors), currently in pre-clinical stages of development. Data generated to date suggests potential application in a range of haematological malignancies and treatment resistant solid tumours. Inflection Biosciences was named ‘Start-up Company of the Year’ at the 2014 Irish Pharma Awards. For more information please visit www.inflectionbio.com