KaliVir Appoints Industry Veteran Adina Pelusio as Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations to Lead Clinical Development Pipeline

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- KaliVir Immunotherapeutics, Inc., a biotech company developing cutting-edge, multi-mechanistic oncolytic viral immunotherapy programs, today announced the appointment of Adina Pelusio, M.S., as Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations. Pelusio will be responsible for leading KaliVir's clinical development program and clinical operations.

"We are thrilled that Adina is joining our team at this important time in the company's growth," said Helena Chaye, Ph.D., J.D., CEO of KaliVir. "Adina is an industry veteran with experience in all facets of clinical development, and her leadership will be instrumental as we advance our pipeline of novel oncolytic therapies toward the clinic, including our lead candidate VET3-TGI."

Pelusio joins KaliVir with more than 20 years of experience in drug development. She most recently served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations at Turnstone Biologics, where she oversaw the advancement of candidate oncolytic viruses, cancer vaccines and adoptive cell therapies into clinical trials. Prior, Pelusio spent 10 years at SillaJen, Inc. (formerly Jennerex Biotherapeutics) where she led the introduction of oncolytic viruses into 17 countries across Phase I-III clinical trials. She holds an M.S. from the University of Florida and is pursuing an M.P.H. from Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

KaliVir has developed its proprietary Vaccinia Enhanced Template (VET™) platform, capable of generating potent novel oncolytic vaccinia viruses with modifications to maximize viral replication and to enhance intravenous delivery and spread. The company's lead candidate VET3-TGI incorporates modifications granting the expression of CXCR3, IL-12 and a TGF-β inhibitor, allowing for efficient trafficking to the tumor, activation of anti-tumor immune responses and inhibition of immunosuppressive activity.

"KaliVir's VET platform has tremendous potential to develop critical oncolytic therapies for a wide range of cancers," said Pelusio. "I am thrilled to be joining this esteemed group of leaders in oncolytic virotherapy research at such an exciting time for the company and being part of this important journey."

KaliVir Immunotherapeutics is a privately held biotech company developing cutting-edge, multi-mechanistic oncolytic viral immunotherapy programs. The company has developed a unique vaccinia virus-based platform, Vaccinia Enhanced Template "VET" Platform, that can generate potent novel oncolytic vaccinia viruses with modifications to maximize viral replication and to enhance intravenous delivery and spread. VET™ platform utilizes the large transgene capacity of the vaccinia virus to deliver therapeutics matched to tumor immunophenotypes to stimulate patients' immune systems and modify the tumor microenvironment. KaliVir's oncolytic virus candidates are designed to be safe, potent and systemically deliverable to treat cancer patients across multiple tumor types. KaliVir has separate collaborations with Roche and Astellas Pharma to design and generate novel oncolytic vaccinia viruses derived from the VET™ platform. In addition, Astellas entered into a world-wide exclusive license to develop and commercialize KaliVir's initial lead clinical candidate VET2-L2 oncolytic vaccinia virus. KaliVir is currently advancing multiple therapeutic candidates toward the clinic. For more information, please visit www.kalivir.com.

Media Contact:
Michael Falcone
MacDougall Advisors
[email protected]
781-591-3448

SOURCE KaliVir Immunotherapeutics