Dr Rothenberg will contribute substantial strategic expertise in oncology drug development
Aulos Bioscience, a biotechnology company developing highly differentiated interleukin-2 (IL-2)-binding monoclonal antibodies as therapeutics against solid tumours, announced the appointment of Mace Rothenberg, to the company’s board of directors. With more than three decades of experience in medical oncology, academic research, and biopharmaceutical industry leadership, Dr Rothenberg will contribute substantial strategic expertise in oncology drug development as Aulos designs and conducts clinical trials of its lead pipeline candidate, AU-007, in the coming months.
“We are delighted to welcome Rothenberg to the Aulos board. He will bring deep insight and experience to our clinical development programmes, along with the thoughtfulness, wisdom, and focus on patients that have been the hallmarks of his amazing career,” said Michael Ehlers, Co-founder and Executive Chair, Aulos and venture partner and chief scientific officer at ATP, the life sciences venture capital firm that created Aulos in partnership with Biolojic Design, the Tel Aviv-based computational antibody design company that designed the Aulos lead asset.
Dr Rothenberg most recently served as chief medical officer of Pfizer. In that role, he led the creation of the company’s combined Worldwide Medical & Safety organisation, a trusted source of medical information and disease characterization and an innovator in quantitative, patient-centred, benefit-risk assessments. Before he was appointed CMO, Dr Rothenberg led Pfizer’s oncology clinical drug development efforts. Over 10 years, his organisation developed and obtained regulatory approvals for 11 new cancer medicines, including IBRANCE (palbociclib), the first CDK 4/6 inhibitor for patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer, and XALKORI® (crizotinib), the first targeted medicine developed for patients with ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer. Before joining Pfizer, Dr Rothenberg served on the faculties of Vanderbilt University Medical Center from 1998 to 2006 and the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio from 1991 to 1998.
“We have long known about the antitumor potential of IL-2, but so far, activity sufficient for regulatory approval has only been observed in two diseases, melanoma and kidney cancer. By leveraging insights into the various ways in which IL-2 interacts with different kinds of immune cells, Aulos is developing a monoclonal antibody that has the potential to focus the effects of IL-2 on tumour-fighting T-cells and, in doing so, increase the depth of clinical responses and breadth of clinical activity that can be achieved with this cytokine. I am excited by the opportunity to collaborate with the talented team at Aulos and provide oversight and guidance as they work to bring AU-007 to patients,” said Dr Rothenberg.
“The addition of Mace to our board is a testament to the promise of the unique approach to IL-2 engineered by the team at Biolojic and being developed by Aulos, and a great step forward as we build a world-class team here at Aulos,” said Aron Knickerbocker, president and CEO of Aulos Bioscience.
BOSTON and TEL AVIV, Israel, March 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Aulos Bioscience, a biotechnology company developing highly differentiated interleukin-2 (IL-2)-binding monoclonal antibodies as therapeutics against solid tumors, announced today the appointment of Mace Rothenberg, M.D., to the company’s board of directors. With more than three decades of experience in medical oncology, academic research, and biopharmaceutical industry leadership, Dr. Rothenberg will contribute substantial strategic expertise in oncology drug development as Aulos designs and conducts clinical trials of its lead pipeline candidate, AU-007, in the coming months.
