OncoNano Medicine Appoints Brett Giroir, M.D., to Board of Directors
- Former Assistant Secretary of Health and Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service to help advance company's mission to advance the identification and treatment of cancer
SOUTHLAKE, Texas – December 17, 2021 – OncoNano Medicine, Inc. today announced the appointment of Brett Giroir, M.D., to the company’s Board of Directors. “It is my pleasure to welcome Dr. Giroir to our Board and work with him as we advance our differentiated technology platform for the development of novel interventions and treatments for cancer patients,” said Martin Driscoll, CEO of OncoNano Medicine, Inc. “Brett’s wealth of experience and expertise in clinical practice, public health and entrepreneurial enterprises will be instrumental as we enter a pivotal stage for the growth of our company.”
Dr. Giroir is a physician-scientist and innovator, whose career has been dedicated to improving public health and medicine. Formerly, he served as the 16th Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Acting FDA Commissioner and Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Dr. Giroir also served as the U.S. Representative to the Executive Board of the World Health Organization within the Department of State, and was on the front lines of the COVID-19 response as a member of the White House Task Force and the national lead for testing and diagnostics. Dr. Giroir is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Texas Health Science Center, where he served on the faculty for ten years. “I am excited to assist in the development and commercialization of OncoNano’s novel platform technology, which has the realistic potential to revolutionize targeting of tumors with anti-cancer therapies and cancerimaging agents,” said Dr. Giroir. “I look forward to working with OncoNano’s outstanding team and world-renowned scientific founders to advance this broadly applicable anti-cancer technology for the benefit of patients with unmet medical needs.”
About pegsitacianine
Pegsitacianine utilizes OncoNano’s proprietary pH-sensitive micelle platform to encapsulate a fluorescent tag and exploit a universal biomarker of solid tumors – the relatively acidic pH of the tumor microenvironment – to provide real-time surgical imaging for cancer surgeons. Pegsitacianine is currently in Phase 2 trials involving patients with peritoneal metastases and lung tumors.
About ONM-501
ONM-501 is a novel immune-therapeutic that activates the STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING) target and has demonstrated efficacy and good tolerability in multiple preclinical oncology models. ONM-501 utilizes PC7A, a novel synthetic polymer from the proprietary OncoNano library that binds STING through a non-canonical biomolecular condensation. The combination of a payload consisting of a synthetic version of the endogenous ligand, cGAMP, with PC7A yields a polyvalent or dual-activation of the STING target. ONM-501 has been demonstrated to stimulate a robust adaptive immune response in the tumor microenvironment in preclinical studies. OncoNano is currently conducting IND-enabling activities for ONM-501 and anticipates submitting an IND for a Phase 1a/1b trial in the second half of 2022.
Pegsitacianine and ONM-501 have been partially funded by the Cancer Prevention and ResearchInstitute of Texas.
About OncoNano Medicine
OncoNano Medicine is developing a new class of products that exploit pH as a biomarker to diagnose and treat cancer with high specificity. Our product candidates are designed to help patients across the continuum of cancer care and include solid tumor therapeutics, agents for real-time image-guided surgery and a platform of product candidates that activate and guide the body’s immune system to target cancer. Learn more at OncoNano.com
Contacts
MacDougall
Lauren Arnold
781-235-3060
larnold@macbiocom.com
