03.03.15
Wendy Levin, M.D., has been appointed vice president of Clinical Development at Fate Therapeutics and Walter Grubb has been named vice president of business development. Also, John Ferraro has been promoted to the newly created position of vice president, Clinical Operations.
Dr. Levin will head up the company's clinical development of PROHEMA in patients with hematologic malignancies and rare genetic disorders. She joins the company from MEI Pharma, where she was vice president of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Previously, she held positions of increasing responsibilities at Pfizer, where she led a global oncology program targeting the hedgehog pathway from first-in-human studies into later-stage development.
Mr. Grubb's responsibilities will include the assessment, valuation and licensing of business opportunities for the company. Mr. Grubb previously served as executive director of business development and commercial operations at Ambit Biosciences, where he was responsible for multiple partnership transactions, provided commercial leadership for product candidates, and was instrumental in the company's initial public offering and ultimate acquisition by Daiichi-Sankyo. Prior to Ambit, Mr. Grubb held positions of increasing responsibility at Neurocrine Biosciences in business development, market analytics, medical affairs and product marketing.
Mr. Ferraro will be responsible for clinical operations and data management functions. Prior to joining in February 2013, Mr. Ferraro was senior director of Clinical Operations at GlobeImmune, Inc., where he established the clinical operations group and led the advancement of multiple targeted immunotherapies through the clinical development process. Mr. Ferraro has 20 years of biopharmaceutical experience in global clinical operations and research positions from Pfizer and SmithKline Beecham.
"We are delighted to welcome Wendy and Walter, two accomplished life sciences industry professionals, to our team, and for John to assume additional leadership responsibilities as head of our clinical operations group," said Christian Weyer, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Fate Therapeutics. "The broad experience and expertise of these leaders will be invaluable as we continue to advance a R&D and business development strategy aimed at building a robust pipeline of first-in-class programmed hematopoietic cellular therapeutics for a range of severe, life-threatening disorders."
Dr. Levin will head up the company's clinical development of PROHEMA in patients with hematologic malignancies and rare genetic disorders. She joins the company from MEI Pharma, where she was vice president of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Previously, she held positions of increasing responsibilities at Pfizer, where she led a global oncology program targeting the hedgehog pathway from first-in-human studies into later-stage development.
Mr. Grubb's responsibilities will include the assessment, valuation and licensing of business opportunities for the company. Mr. Grubb previously served as executive director of business development and commercial operations at Ambit Biosciences, where he was responsible for multiple partnership transactions, provided commercial leadership for product candidates, and was instrumental in the company's initial public offering and ultimate acquisition by Daiichi-Sankyo. Prior to Ambit, Mr. Grubb held positions of increasing responsibility at Neurocrine Biosciences in business development, market analytics, medical affairs and product marketing.
Mr. Ferraro will be responsible for clinical operations and data management functions. Prior to joining in February 2013, Mr. Ferraro was senior director of Clinical Operations at GlobeImmune, Inc., where he established the clinical operations group and led the advancement of multiple targeted immunotherapies through the clinical development process. Mr. Ferraro has 20 years of biopharmaceutical experience in global clinical operations and research positions from Pfizer and SmithKline Beecham.
"We are delighted to welcome Wendy and Walter, two accomplished life sciences industry professionals, to our team, and for John to assume additional leadership responsibilities as head of our clinical operations group," said Christian Weyer, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Fate Therapeutics. "The broad experience and expertise of these leaders will be invaluable as we continue to advance a R&D and business development strategy aimed at building a robust pipeline of first-in-class programmed hematopoietic cellular therapeutics for a range of severe, life-threatening disorders."