Actym Appoints Steven Vicik as Chief Technical Officer

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Oct 26, 2023, 09:00 ET

BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Actym Therapeutics, pioneering a new drug modality to treat solid tumors, announced today the appointment of Steven Vicik, PhD, as Chief Technical Officer (CTO). Dr. Steven Vicik joins the company with over 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical process and product development, manufacturing operations, as well as supply chain design and distribution for large and small molecule drugs. In his role as CTO, he will lead and execute Actym's technology strategy and advance Actym's proprietary platform, S. Typhimurium-Attenuated Cancer Therapy (STACT), which represents a novel approach to achieving comprehensive immunological reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment (TME). The appointment comes after Actym recently announced a Series A extension that will support a Phase 1 clinical trial designed to achieve proof of mechanism for Actym's lead candidate, ACTM-838.

"Welcoming Steve to Actym represents a valuable addition to our expert-led management team," said Dr. Christopher D. Thanos, President, CEO, and Co-founder of Actym. "With Steve contributing his technical expertise to our product development vision, we are well-equipped to translate our team's deep understanding of the tumor microenvironment into furthering our novel approach for effective and safe cancer treatments."

Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Vicik added, "Actym is developing an innovative drug modality with exciting potential to reprogram the TME. It is a great opportunity to contribute to the development process of ACTM-838 as we move toward clinical evaluation."

Dr. Steven Vicik has extensive experience in leading the development and manufacturing of multiple clinical assets. He has supported several successful Biologics License Application (BLA) and New Drug Application (NDA) registrations, resulting in global product launches. Additionally, he has coordinated manufacturing and distribution strategies for a drug portfolio that generates over $5B in sales annually. Before joining Actym, Dr. Vicik served as CTO at Xalud Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company that specializes in developing a non-viral gene therapy platform. In this role, he oversaw process development, manufacturing, Chemistry Manufacturing and Control (CMC), and supply chain activities. Earlier in his career, Dr. Vicik held various leadership roles at Pfizer, Wyeth, and Genetics Institute, where he was responsible for both the development and the implementation of manufacturing and supply chain enhancements. He is also the holder of several large molecule manufacturing patents. Dr. Vicik earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University.

About Actym

Actym Therapeutics has engineered a new drug modality harnessing the power of a genetically modified bacterial vehicle that safely introduces therapeutic payloads to activate the immune response in the tumor microenvironment. To achieve targeted anti-tumor effects, we have developed a systemically administered treatment that exploits intrinsic TME-specific metabolites, enabling selective enrichment of the bacterial vehicle in tumors. After cell-specific entry, our lead candidate, ACTM-838, positively activates tumor-resident myeloid cells and delivers two synergistic payloads, optimized IL-15 and STING, unlocking a comprehensive and durable innate and adaptive anti-tumor immune response. With the ability to tailor our platform utilizing a range of payload combinations, we aim to achieve a new level of therapeutic impact for cancer patients across multiple tumor types.

Contacts
For Actym Therapeutics
Christopher Thanos, CEO
E-Mail: [email protected]

Media Requests for Actym
Dr. Alison Opalko or Sara Ortiz
Trophic Communications
Phone: +49 151 54041130 or +49 160 90816161
E-Mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Actym Therapeutics Inc.