Trio brings extraordinary business and scientific experience to the Fusion Board
SOUTH RIDING, Va., Oct. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Slone Partners, a nationwide executive search firm for life sciences, healthcare, and cybersecurity organizations, has announced the placements of Jeremy Bender, Ph.D., MBA, Teresa Bitetti, MBA, and David Meek as members of the Board of Directors at Fusion Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation radiopharmaceuticals as precision medicines for the treatment of cancer.
Dr. Bender currently serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Day One Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on pediatric cancer. Previously, he served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Gilead Sciences, overseeing acquisitions, partnerships, and investments. Dr. Bender also served as CEO at Tizona Therapeutics, Chief Business Officer at Sutro Biopharma, and Vice President of Corporate Development at Allos Therapeutics. He currently sits on the Board of Mereo BioPharma as an Independent Board Member.
Ms. Bitetti currently serves as President of the Global Oncology Business Unit of Takeda. Previously, she held various roles of increasing responsibility at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), including as Senior Vice President, Head of Worldwide Oncology Commercialization. At BMS, Ms. Bitetti also served as Senior Vice President and Head of the U.S. Oncology business, President and General Manager of BMS Canada, and Worldwide Head of the BMS Virology business. She currently serves on the board of Osmol Therapeutics as an independent director.
Mr. Meek most recently served as CEO and Member of the Board of Directors of Mirati Therapeutics. Prior to this role, he served as the President, CEO, and Board Member of FerGene, and CEO and Board Member of Ipsen. Mr. Meek was previously an Executive Vice President and President of Oncology at Baxalta Incorporated in the leadup to the acquisition by Shire, and Chief Commercial Officer of Endocyte. He previously held executive leadership roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Novartis Oncology. Mr. Meek previously served on the Board of Directors of Entasis Therapeutics (acquired by Innoviva) and currently serves on the Board of Directors of uniQure N.V.
"Jeremy Bender, Teresa Bitetti, and David Meek are all very accomplished and highly respected leaders in the fields of biopharmaceuticals, oncology, and therapeutics," said Leslie Loveless, Slone Partners CEO. "They bring extraordinary business and scientific experience and knowledge to the Board at a very exciting time in the company's history."
"We are excited to welcome Jeremy, Teresa, and David to Fusion's Board of Directors, each bringing an exceptional breadth of experience and track record of success in oncology drug development, business development, and commercialization. Their experiences introducing innovative therapies to cancer patients as leaders of top-tier oncology companies will be invaluable as we advance our pipeline, particularly our lead program FPI-2265, which is on track to be the first actinium-based PSMA targeted alpha therapy (TAT) to market," said Fusion Chief Executive Officer John Valliant, Ph.D. "Fusion is undergoing an exciting evolution to a later stage radiopharmaceutical company and with these appointments we are transforming our Board to maximize the value generation of our strategy."
Dr. Bender holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Colorado, and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Ms. Bitetti holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and an M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Mr. Meek holds a B.A. from the University of Cincinnati.
ABOUT SLONE PARTNERS
Founded in 2000, Slone Partners is the premier executive search firm that delivers top diverse and visionary leaders who build amazing life sciences, healthcare, and cybersecurity organizations. With a nationwide presence in the most active industry hubs, we specialize in discovering and placing world-class C-Suite leadership, executive, and upper management talent with experience, conviction, and cultural competence in emerging and well-established companies. Our portfolio of executive search and advisory services includes diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, education, and training. Slone Partners proudly holds the designation as a Certified LGBT Business Enterprise™ by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and has earned recognition as a Top Executive Search Firm and a Top 20 Diversity and Inclusion Services firm by Manage HR. To learn more about Slone Partners' value proposition and processes, visit https://www.slonepartners.com or call 888.784.3422.
ABOUT FUSION PHARMACEUTICALS
Fusion Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage oncology company focused on developing next-generation radiopharmaceuticals as precision medicines. Fusion connects alpha particle emitting isotopes to various targeting molecules to selectively deliver the alpha emitting payloads to tumors. Fusion's clinical portfolio includes: FPI-2265 targeting prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer currently in a Phase 2 trial; FPI-1434 targeting insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor currently in a Phase 1 trial; and FPI-2059, a small molecule targeting neurotensin receptor 1 (NTSR1), currently in a Phase 1 trial. In addition to a robust proprietary pipeline, Fusion has a collaboration with AstraZeneca to jointly develop novel targeted alpha therapies (TATs) and combination programs between Fusion's TATs and AstraZeneca's DNA Damage Response Inhibitors (DDRis) and immuno-oncology agents. The Company recently received IND clearance for FPI-2068, the first novel TAT under the collaboration, which targets EGFR-cMET. Fusion has also entered into a collaboration with Merck to evaluate FPI-1434 in combination with Merck's KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in patients with solid tumors expressing IGF-1R. To support Fusion's growing pipeline of TATs, the Company has signed strategic actinium supply agreements with TRIUMF, Niowave, Inc. and BWXT Medical. For more information, visit the website: https://fusionpharma.com/.
Media Contact
Doug Gavel, Doug Gavel Communications, (617) 429-4417, [email protected], http://douggavel.com
SOURCE Slone Partners
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