Vor Biopharma Appoints Dr. Bill Lundberg to its Board of Directors
Vor expands expert governance and oversight with highly regarded physician-scientist and R&D leader
CAMBRIDGE, July 30, 2019 — Vor Biopharma, an oncology company pioneering engineered hematopoietic stem cells (eHSCs) for the treatment of hematological cancers, today announced the appointment of Bill Lundberg, MD, to its Board of Directors.
Dr. Lundberg is a medical oncologist with more than 15 years of experience managing and leading biotechnology research and development. Most recently, Dr. Lundberg served as Chief Scientific Officer at CRISPR Therapeutics, establishing the company in Cambridge, Mass. as the first U.S. employee and leading the development of the company’s first clinical trial application. Dr. Lundberg was previously Director and Chief Medical Officer of Taligen Therapeutics and Vice President and Head of Translational Medicine at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw R&D from discovery through early clinical development. Prior to this, Dr. Lundberg held roles of increasing responsibility in drug development and medical affairs at Xanthus (acquired by Antisoma), Wyeth (now Pfizer) and Genzyme.
“Patients with hematologic malignancies, particularly myeloid malignancies, need new, potentially curative treatments. Vor’s completely different approach to unlocking the potential of cancer immunotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia and other myeloid malignancies has immense potential for improving patient outcomes,” said Dr. Lundberg. “I’m excited to help the company advance the technology, specifically VOR33 for AML, to transform the lives of patients with blood cancers.”
“Bill’s proven track record of success building companies and developing promising novel technologies into clinical stage medicines makes him a timely addition to the Vor story,” said Kush Parmar, MD, PhD, Managing Partner at 5AM Ventures and Chair of Vor’s Board of Directors. “We welcome his involvement as we begin a new chapter of Vor’s growth and development.”
Dr. Lundberg also currently serves as an independent Director of MERUS Therapeutics and a Partner at Cold Spring Partners, LLC. Dr. Lundberg received an MD from Stanford University School of Medicine, an MBA from Isenberg School of Management and a BS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed postdoctoral training at the Whitehead Institute and trained in internal medicine and oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
About VOR33
Vor’s lead engineered hematopoietic stem cell (eHSC) product candidate, VOR33, is in development for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). VOR33 is designed to produce healthy cells that lack the receptor CD33, thus enabling the targeting of AML cells through the CD33 antigen, while avoiding toxicity to the bone marrow. Currently, targeted therapies for AML and other liquid tumors can be limited by on-target toxicity. By rendering healthy cells “invisible” to CD33-targeted therapies, VOR33 aims to significantly improve the therapeutic window, utility and effectiveness of these AML therapies, with the potential to broaden clinical benefit to different patient populations.
About Vor Biopharma
Vor Biopharma aims to transform the lives of cancer patients by pioneering engineered hematopoietic stem cell (eHSC) therapies. Vor’s eHSCs are designed to generate healthy, fully functional cells with specific advantageous modifications, protecting healthy cells from the toxic effects of antigen-targeted therapies, while leaving tumor cells vulnerable.
Vor’s platform could potentially be used to change the treatment paradigm of both hematopoietic stem cell transplants and antigen-targeted therapies, such as antibody drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies and CAR-T cell treatments. A proof-of-concept study for Vor’s lead program has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Vor is based in Cambridge, Mass. and has a broad intellectual property base, including inlicenses from Columbia University, where foundational work was conducted by inventor and Vor Scientific Board Chair Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil. Vor was founded by Dr. Mukherjee and PureTech Health and is supported by leading investors including 5AM Ventures and RA Capital Management, Johnson & Johnson Innovation — JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and Osage University Partners.
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