Ali Fattaey, Ph.D., has been appointed president and chief operating officer at Curis, Inc. Dr. Fattaey will join the senior management team, and will be responsible for the oversight and implementation of the company’s R&D operations.
 
Dr. Fattaey has held leadership positions at several cancer-focused organizations and brings significant R&D experience, including eight years at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for multiple programs in partnership with Pfizer and Bayer HealthCare, which led to the discovery and development of Nexavar. Dr. Fattaey also led the discovery of palbociclib, a small molecule selective inhibitor of the CDK 4 and 6 kinases, now in late stage development for advanced breast cancer.
 
Dr. Fattaey most recently served as president and chief executive officer of ACT Biotech, Inc., a cancer drug development company that he co-founded in 2008, where he led the clinical development of the anti-angiogenic drug candidate telatinib for patients with advanced stomach cancer, as well as advancing a novel FGF receptor kinase inhibitor for first-in-man clinical studies.
 
“We are extremely pleased to have Ali join the Curis senior management team,” said Dan Passeri, chief executive officer of Curis. “He brings extensive experience and knowledge of targeted cancer treatment to guide our growth into a leading oncology drug company. We believe that Ali’s impressive background will enable us to continue building and advancing our pipeline of novel drug candidates, including our IAP inhibitor CUDC-427 and our dual PI3K and HDAC inhibitor CUDC-907.”