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Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. Announces the Appointment of Robert
J. Fram, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer
Cambridge, Mass.
May 10, 2007
Mersana
Therapeutics, a cancer therapeutics company, announced today the
appointment of Robert J. Fram, M.D., F.A.C.P. in the newly created
position of Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Fram will oversee all clinical
and medical activities at the company as it moves forward with
the clinical development of its lead compound, XMT-1001, and future
compounds emerging from Mersana’s research group.
“We are very pleased to welcome Bob to our senior management
team,” commented Julie Olson, Ph.D., President and CEO of
Mersana. “His extensive experience in oncology drug development
as well as his background in clinical oncology practice will be
of great value as we begin our transition from a research organization
to a product development company.”
“I’m excited to be joining Mersana at this critical
juncture in the company’s development as it moves its lead
compound, XMT-1001, into the clinic,” said Dr. Fram. “I
believe that the company’s polymer delivery platform has the
potential to improve the therapeutic and safety profiles of many
important oncology drugs and to better position them for commercial
development.”
Dr. Fram has twenty-eight years experience in
medical oncology, of which eight years have been in the biopharmaceutical
industry.
Most recently, he was Vice President, Clinical Development at
ImmunoGen, leading their antibody-based clinical programs in oncology.
Prior
to ImmunoGen, Dr. Fram led oncology clinical development programs
for small molecule anticancer drugs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals,
Ilex Oncology, and Knoll Pharmaceuticals. He graduated from Harvard
College
(A.B., 1971) and Harvard Medical School (M.D., 1976). Dr. Fram
completed his post-doctoral training in Internal Medicine at Columbia
Presbyterian
Medical Center and in Hematology and Oncology at Dana Farber Cancer
Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He
is board certified in Hematology, Oncology, and Internal Medicine
and
has served on the staff at Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard
Medical School and as an Associate Professor of Medicine at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School and at the University
of Maryland Cancer Center. He was a Clinical Associate Professor
of Medicine at the Brown University Medical School. Dr. Fram has
contributed to 80 publications in the fields of experimental therapeutics
and Hematology/Oncology including journal articles, book chapters,
and published abstracts.
About Fleximer Technology
Fleximer technology improves
the therapeutic index of cytotoxic compounds useful as anti-cancer
agents by uniquely combining biodegradability
with "biological stealth" properties, making Fleximer
materials and their conjugates long-circulating and non-immunotoxic.
Fleximer molecules are characterized by solubility in water, stability
in common manufacturing procedures and in normal physiological conditions,
and non-enzymatic biodegradability upon uptake by cells.
About Mersana
Therapeutics, Inc.
Mersana, a privately held, venture-backed company,
is developing novel oncology agents based on clinically validated
drugs through
the use of Fleximer®, a proprietary bio-degradable and bio-inert
material that enhances the pharmacokinetics, safety, and solubility
of drugs. Mersana has an exclusive license from the Massachusetts
General Hospital for its core technologies. Mersana’s pipeline
includes compounds with activity against multiple tumor types and
human proof-of-concept that are improved by its proprietary technologies.
Mersana’s investors include Fidelity Biosciences, ProQuest
Investments, Rho Ventures, Harris & Harris Group and PureTech
Ventures.
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