Immunitas Therapeutics Appoints Seng-Lai 'Thomas' Tan, Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Immunitas Therapeutics ("Immunitas"), a single cell genomics-based therapeutics company, has appointed Seng-Lai "Thomas" Tan, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Tan brings over 20 years of therapeutic research experience in both large and small biopharmaceutical settings across different disease areas, including infectious disease, autoimmunity, and oncology. He also has broad expertise in various modalities spanning small molecules, monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, and cell-penetrating peptides.

"Thomas' extensive track record in drug development will be an extraordinary asset for the company," said Jeffrey Goldberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Immunitas. "With Thomas joining the team, coupled with our recent financing, Immunitas will continue to build on the solid foundation that has been created over the last two years, expanding our pipeline and driving drugs into the clinic to help patients in need."

Prior to joining Immunitas, Dr. Tan served as Chief Scientific Officer at Bicara Therapeutics. Previously, he was Vice President, Head of Immunology at Elstar Therapeutics, now Marengo Therapeutics, where he devised and implemented effective strategies to build a portfolio of differentiated and high value projects in immuno-oncology. He also has led several projects toward discovery and clinical development at Forma Therapeutics and EMD Serono Research and Development Institute. Dr. Tan holds a doctorate in microbiology (viral immunology) from the University of Washington School of Medicine.

"Immunitas' combined approaches of human immunology and high-dimensional computational data analysis have uniquely positioned the company in immuno-oncology with a pipeline of differentiated programs focused on novel biological pathways," said Dr. Tan. "I am eager to collaborate with the Immunitas team to achieve the mission of providing new treatment options for patients living with cancer by quickly advancing our programs from discovery to translation and move these powerful therapies into the clinic."

The appointment follows the recent $58 million Series B financing and a series of leadership and executive management expansions in August, including Amanda Wagner as Chief Business Officer and Geeta Vemuri, Agent Capital, and Brian Halak, on behalf of Medical Excellence Capital (MEC), to the Immunitas Board of Directors.

About Immunitas Therapeutics
Immunitas is a single cell genomics-based therapeutics company focused on immunology that is advancing multiple programs to the clinic. Immunitas' programs are derived from their platform, a cross-functional, highly integrated, single cell genomics approach that enables rapid target identification and validation in parallel with antibody discovery and engineering. IMT-009, a first-in-class NK and T cell modulator targeting CD161, is being developed for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Immunitas is also advancing IMT-073, a dual-target NK and T cell modulator. The company was founded by Longwood Fund with leading scientists from Dana-Farber, MGH, the Broad, and MIT. Since being founded in 2019, Immunitas has raised a total of $97 million in venture funding from a strong syndicate of investors including Agent Capital, Longwood Fund, Medical Excellence Capital, Alexandria Venture Investment, Evotec, Leaps by Bayer, M Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund. To learn more, visit www.immunitastx.com. 

SOURCE Immunitas Therapeutics, Inc.