OncoResponse Appoints Renowned Immunologists Drs. Miriam Merad and David G. DeNardo to Scientific Advisory Board

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Nov 09, 2021, 08:00 ET

SEATTLE, Nov. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OncoResponse, a clinical-stage biotech company advancing immunotherapies derived from the immune systems of elite cancer responders, today announced the appointments of Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, and David G. DeNardo, PhD, to the company's scientific advisory board.

"We are fortunate to have two distinguished researchers in the field of immunology join OncoResponse's SAB whose expertise will be invaluable as we advance our drug discovery platform," said Kamal D. Puri, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer. "Dr. Merad identified the lineage and role of macrophages in organ function and their contribution in mediating cancer progression. Dr. DeNardo's research has focused on understanding how the tumor microenvironment and subsets of myeloid cells contribute to tumorigenesis and decreased survival."

Dr. Merad is the Director of the Precision Immunology Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the Director of the Mount Sinai Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC), which she founded. She is an internationally acclaimed physician-scientist and a leader in the fields of dendritic cell and macrophage biology, focusing on their contributions to human diseases. Dr. Merad has authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers and reviews in high profile journals and belongs to several NIH consortia. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the recipient of the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology. She is President-elect of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). In 2020, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her contributions to the field of immunology. See more about Dr. Merad here.

"I am excited to assist OncoResponse as they pursue pioneering therapies for the treatment of cancer. Their approach to immunotherapy is compelling as it emanates from elite-responders to immunotherapy to discover and develop novel therapeutic agents," said Dr. Merad.

Dr. DeNardo is Professor of Medicine, Pathology & Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. His research is focused on understanding how immune responses shape and are shaped by malignancies. This includes investigating efforts to enhance response to conventional, targeted or immunotherapy treatment approaches. Dr. DeNardo's research aims to understand the impact of fibrosis on responses to immunotherapy and understanding the effects of macrophage origin on tumor fibrosis, immunity, and regulation of tumor progression. In addition, his work seeks to understand defects in dendritic cell development and trafficking in cancer patients as well as targeting macrophages to unlock responsiveness to immunotherapy. See more about Dr. DeNardo here.

"Therapies that reverse inhibitory effects of tumor associated macrophages could relieve the immunosuppressive action of macrophages and help increase tumor cell death. I'm pleased to join the OncoResponse scientific advisory board at this interesting time for the company," said Dr. DeNardo.

About OncoResponse

OncoResponse, Inc. is a clinical-stage, immuno-oncology biotech company developing cancer immunotherapies using clues from the immune systems of elite cancer responders. In a broad strategic alliance with MD Anderson Cancer Center, OncoResponse deploys a proprietary B-cell discovery platform to identify and develop novel therapeutics targeting the tumor microenvironment. The company's lead candidate, OR2805, has entered clinical studies. OR2805 is a fully human antibody discovered using B cells derived from an elite responder to checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) therapy. Additional pipeline candidates that modulate suppressive macrophage activity are under development. OncoResponse is a privately held company backed by investment from MD Anderson Cancer Center, Rivervest Venture Partners, Qatar Investment Authority, Redmile Group, Magnetar Group, Yonjin Venture, InterVest, Bering Capital, ARCH Venture Partners, Helsinn Investment Fund, Canaan Partners, GreatPoint Ventures, Takeda Ventures, Buchang Pharma (China), Alexandria Real Estate Equities and William Marsh Rice University. For more information please visit www.oncoresponseinc.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE OncoResponse