Jounce
Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on the discovery and
development of novel cancer immunotherapies coupled to patient selection
strategies, today announced the appointment of Deborah Law, D. Phil., to
the position of chief scientific officer. Dr. Law brings to Jounce
nearly two decades of experience in biologics drug discovery and
development, particularly in the fields of oncology and immunology.
Dr. Law joins Jounce from Merck, where she most recently served as vice
president of Therapy Area Biology for Immunology, Oncology and
Immunomodulators. In this role, she was responsible for bringing cancer
immunotherapy compounds from discovery to the clinic.
“Deb’s background in immune oncology and ability to drive new candidates
into development is a perfect fit for Jounce and I am thrilled to have
her as part of our team,” said Richard Murray Ph.D., chief executive
officer of Jounce. “In addition to her subject matter expertise, her
track record of executive level leadership in both small and large
companies will be of substantial value as we continue to build Jounce.”
“I am delighted to join Jounce during this exciting time for the cancer
immunotherapy area,” said Dr. Law. “I am particularly impressed with the
company’s core translational science platform, which couples new
immunotherapies with patient selection strategies, a fundamental next
step for the entire field. I look forward to working with the scientific
team at Jounce and building off the company’s strong translational
science foundation to bring the right immune oncology therapies to the
right patients.”
Prior to Merck, Dr. Law served as the chief scientific officer for
Ablynx n.v. and held various research positions in biotechnology
companies including PDL Biopharma, EOS Biotechnology and Cor
Therapeutics. Dr. Law received her B.Sc. in immunology from Glasgow
University, her D. Phil. in immunology from Oxford University and
pursued postdoctoral research at University of California San Francisco.
About Jounce Therapeutics
Jounce Therapeutics is dedicated to transforming the treatment of
cancer. The company is discovering and developing novel cancer
immunotherapies designed to harness the immune system to seek out and
attack cancerous cells and tumors. Jounce integrates translational
science insights to select the right targets and patient populations
leading to clinical trials with higher probability of success and rapid
proof-of-concept. The company is advancing programs that leverage
contributions from its world-class founders as well as knowledge
acquired from Jounce’s translational science platform to create a
sustainable “discovery to human proof-of-concept” product engine with
the potential to drive significantly more durable responses to
treatment. Founded by world leaders in tumor immunology, cancer biology
and clinical and translational medicine, Jounce Therapeutics was
launched in 2013 with funding from leading life sciences investor, Third
Rock Ventures. For more information, please visit www.jouncetx.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2015