Aduro Biotech, a biopharmaceutical company with three distinct immunotherapy technologies, announced Andrea van Elsas Chief Scientific Officer of the company's subsidiary Aduro Biotech Europe, will be appointed Chief Scientific Officer of Aduro Biotech effective 1 September 2017.
Thomas Dubensky, has resigned from this post effective 31 August 2017 to pursue his interest in running his own discovery and research company.
Dr Dubensky will provide counsel to the company through a consulting agreement until the end of the year and plans to subsequently join the company's scientific advisory board.
Stephen T. Isaacs, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aduro, said: "Andrea is a preeminent thought leader in the field of tumour immunology and his distinguished career spearheading research and development at highly-regarded organisations, such as Organon, Schering-Plough and Merck, formed the basis for the commercialisation of transformative therapies, including a commercially available anti-PD-1.
"Tom's [Dubensky] scientific leadership and prowess led to the discovery and pursuit of the company's foundational technologies that position the company for success as we advance multiple innovative product candidates into and through, clinical development."
Andrea van Elsas joined Aduro in November 2015 as the Chief Scientific Officer of Aduro Biotech Europe, a subsidiary of Aduro Biotech. Prior to its acquisition by Aduro in 2015, Dr van Elsas Co-Founded BioNovion and served as Chief Scientific Officer focusing on the development of innovative therapeutic antibodies in the field of immune oncology.
From 1999 to 2011, he held numerous positions at Organon in Oss, The Netherlands and Cambridge, Massachusetts (acquired by Schering-Plough Corporation in 2007 and later by Merck & Co.) and as the Director of Tumour Immunology he ran the immune oncology portfolio including the programme that later became known as pembrolizumab.
As a postdoctoral researcher from 1997-1999, Andrea worked at the University of California, Berkeley, studying antibodies blocking CTLA-4 for the treatment of cancer and is a co-inventor on the original patents that formed the basis for the development of Yervoy (ipilimumab), the first checkpoint inhibitor approved in 2011 by the US FDA for the treatment of melanoma.
Aduro Biotech, is an immunotherapy company focused on the discovery, development and commercialisation of therapies transforming the treatment of challenging diseases. Aduro's technology platforms, which are designed to harness the body's natural immune system, are being investigated in cancer indications and have the potential to expand into autoimmune and infectious diseases.
Aduro's LADD technology platform is based on proprietary attenuated strains of Listeria that have been engineered to express tumour-associated antigens to induce specific and targeted immune responses. This platform is being developed as a treatment for multiple indications, including mesothelioma, gastric/esophageal, ovarian, lung and prostate cancers.
Additionally, a personalised form of LADD, or pLADD, is being developed utilising tumour neoantigens, specific to an individual patient's tumour. Aduro's STING Pathway Activator platform is designed to activate the STING receptor in immune cells, resulting in a potent tumour-specific immune response.
