Olema Oncology Names Sean P. Bohen, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Olema Oncology, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted therapies for women's cancers, today announced the appointment of Sean P. Bohen, M.D., Ph.D., as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Bohen, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry executive with a track record of developing numerous oncology drugs, was most recently Executive Vice President of Global Medicines Development and Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca. He has also been appointed to the Olema Board of Directors.

Dr. Bohen succeeds Cyrus Harmon, Ph.D., who had served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Olema since the company was founded. Dr. Harmon has assumed a newly created role of Chief Technology Officer.

"Sean's expertise in oncology and drug development and his biopharma industry experience and relationships will be invaluable as Olema transitions to a development-stage organization," said Ian T. Clark, Chair of the Board of Directors of Olema Oncology. "We're thrilled to welcome Sean to Olema to work alongside Cyrus and the existing team, which has done an impressive job advancing an exciting lead program and preparing the company for its next phase of growth."

"I'm excited to join Olema and partner with the Board and executive team to help build an exciting, patient-centered oncology company with the goal of transforming the standard of care for pre- and post-menopausal women living with cancer by developing more convenient and effective therapies," said Dr. Bohen. "At this transformative time in the company's trajectory, I look forward to building upon Olema's progress to date as we further advance our lead program, OP-1250, in breast cancer, as a clinical-stage company."

"Sean brings a unique set of talents to Olema that combine a deep understanding of the biology of nuclear receptors, extensive preclinical and early clinical development, design and execution of global clinical trials, and commercial launch of innovative  medicines for cancer and other indications," said Dr. Harmon, who will now lead efforts to broaden and deepen Olema's pipeline through new R&D.

"During the past year, we have built on our successful scientific and nonclinical development to add eight new leading biotech investors, along with our first institutional investor, BVF, as stockholders, launched our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of OP-1250, and added world-class talent to our executive team and Board. Adding Sean as President and Chief Executive Officer brings further skills and experience to take Olema through our next stages of growth and OP-1250 through clinical trials. We're  honored to have been able to recruit him to this position, and we look forward to working with him," added Dr. Harmon.

Dr. Bohen has made significant contributions to the clinical research and development of numerous oncology drugs that received regulatory approval for various indications,  including HER2+ metastatic breast cancer, basal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer. Dr. Bohen served as Executive Vice President of Global Medicines Development and Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca from 2015 to 2019. In that role, he was responsible for AstraZeneca's worldwide product development and clinical programs to address unmet medical needs and renew the company's product pipeline. Prior to AstraZeneca, Dr. Bohen spent 13 years at Genentech, holding leadership roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Senior Vice President, Early Development, Genentech Research and Early Development (gRED), where he was responsible for the delivery of new clinical candidates to address unmet medical needs. Earlier at Genentech, he held the positions of Vice President of Immunology Development, Senior Director of ITGR Exploratory Clinical Development, Associate Director of Oncology Exploratory Clinical Development, and Assistant Medical Director of Rituxan Heme/Onc. He served as an Adjunct Clinical Instructor in the Oncology Division at Stanford University School of Medicine. Currently, Dr. Bohen is a non-executive director of Gyroscope Therapeutics, Ltd. and AltruBio, Inc. Previously, he was on the Board of Transcelerate BioPharma. He earned a B.S. in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an M.D. and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, San Francisco. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute and Stanford University School of Medicine/Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

About Olema Oncology

Olema Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted therapies for women's cancers. Olema's lead program, OP-1250, a complete estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist (CERAN) and a selective ER degrader (SERD), is currently being studied in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent, metastatic or locally advanced, ER-positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer. Olema is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.olema.com.

SOURCE Olema Oncology