MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IGM Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: IGMS), a global leader in the research and development of engineered therapeutic IgM antibodies, today announced the appointment of Eric Humke, M.D., Ph.D., to the newly created position of Vice President, Clinical Development, Apoptosis. Dr. Humke will join Daniel S. Chen, Chief Medical Officer, and Wayne Godfrey, Vice President, Clinical Development, to lead the global clinical development of IGM’s emerging pipeline of proprietary IgM antibodies.
“Eric’s experience in developing numerous first-in-human therapeutics in multiple cancer indications, including several different antibody drug conjugates, will provide strong support for the expansion of the clinical development of our industry-leading IgM technology platform,” said Fred Schwarzer, Chief Executive Officer of IGM Biosciences.
Dr. Humke commented, “Apoptotic, also known as programmed cell death, pathways are highly conserved throughout evolution, and evasion of cell death is absolutely fundamental to the formation of cancer. Targeting of these pathways may have immense therapeutic potential for treating cancer and needs to be realized. I believe IGM’s innovative and proprietary approach to engineering and producing IgM-based agonists is an excellent match for this biology, and I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to build and lead the clinical research and development efforts in apoptosis at IGM Biosciences.”
Dr. Humke joins IGM with more than 15 years of experience in apoptosis research and early clinical development of first-in-human therapeutics in solid tumors, most recently serving as Senior Medical Director at Genentech. While at Genentech, he led multiple clinical investigation programs in Research & Early Clinical Development, including the study of six different antibody drug conjugates in lung, ovarian, and endometrial cancer, as well as multiple myeloma. Prior to joining Genentech, he was an Instructor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology at the Stanford University School of Medicine where he conducted research and clinical studies.
“Eric studied apoptosis biology with Vishva Dixit at the University of Michigan and at Genentech, during a time when they discovered and characterized many of these critical pathways, including death receptor 5 (DR5). Those early studies performed by Dr. Humke and others in the Dixit lab represents the foundation of our understanding of these critical cellular death and survival factors for cancer. However, therapeutic technologies needed to optimally target trimerizing Tumor Necrosis Super Family Receptors (TNSFRs) such as DR5 have been lacking,” said Daniel S. Chen, Chief Medical Officer of IGM Biosciences. Dr. Chen continued, “With our multimerizing IgM anti-DR5 agonists, we look forward to Eric leveraging his depth of apoptotic scientific expertise and early clinical development experience in solid tumor indications to lead these programs and further extend IGM’s clinical development capabilities.”
Dr. Humke has co-authored multiple clinical and scientific publications and book chapters. He earned a B.S. at Brown University and an M.D., Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He completed his internal medicine residency at Washington University in St. Louis (Barnes-Jewish Hospital) and a medical oncology fellowship at Stanford University.
About IGM Biosciences, Inc.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, IGM Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on creating and developing engineered IgM antibodies for the treatment of cancer patients. Since 2010, IGM Biosciences has worked to overcome the manufacturing and protein engineering hurdles that have limited the therapeutic use of IgM antibodies. Through its efforts, IGM Biosciences has created a proprietary IgM technology platform for the development of IgM antibodies for those clinical indications where their inherent properties may provide advantages as compared to IgG antibodies.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or IGM Biosciences’ future plans, strategy and performance. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially, including those more fully described in IGM Biosciences’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including IGM Biosciences’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 7, 2019 and in IGM Biosciences’ future reports to be filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and IGM Biosciences specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.
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