SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bluejay Therapeutics, a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative cures for infectious diseases, today announced that Nancy Shulman, M.D., joined Bluejay as chief medical officer, bringing over 20 years of clinical development experience with her to Bluejay Therapeutics.
“Nancy is an experienced infectious disease clinician and expert clinical drug developer with successful track record in drug development including antivirals in both large pharmaceutical companies and startup biotech companies, and I am pleased to welcome her to the executive team,” said Keting Chu, M.D., Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of Bluejay. “We will undoubtedly benefit from her prior experience leading the strategy and execution of both clinical research and clinical development across AbbVie’s infectious disease portfolio, as well as her experience advancing antivirals at Genentech/Roche.”
Prior to Bluejay, Dr. Shulman worked at Roche, Genentech, AbbVie, and most recently at Ambys Medicines, where she was the vice president of translational medicine. She brings broad clinical development experience ranging from first-in-human and translational studies through Phase 4 studies, including extensive experience in the virology/hepatology disease area, but also in immunology and oncology. She has been a part of multiple INDs and was a key leader on the NDA approvals of the HCV antivirals Viekira Pak®, Viekirax®, and Mavyret®.
Prior to joining industry, Nancy was an NIH-funded clinical/translational HIV researcher at Stanford University and was on the faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases. She holds a B.A. in Biochemistry with a minor in Chinese from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.D. from the University of Kansas. She completed her residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Chicago and her infectious disease fellowship at Stanford.
Dr. Shulman added, “I have dedicated a significant part of my career to the treatment of infectious diseases, working on numerous agents for chronic viral infections, as well as evaluating a number of strategic pipeline expansion opportunities for large biotech and pharma. I was excited to learn of the HBV therapeutics being developed at Bluejay with first- or best-in-class therapeutic potential, and I am eager to bring effective treatments to the patients in need.”
Dr. Shulman joins a seasoned executive leadership team, including:
- Keting Chu, M.D., Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer, was previously a partner at LYFE Capital and venture partner at Apple Tree Partners, and was responsible for venture philanthropy at The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Dr. Chu was also the CEO of several companies, including Mission Therapeutics, DigitAB, and BioCubed Corporation. Earlier in her career, she held R&D leadership roles at Five Prime Therapeutics and Chiron Corporation.
- Hassan Javanbakht, Ph.D., chief scientific officer, was previously at Hoffman La-Roche, Gilead sciences and SQZ biotechnologies where he worked on developing novel antivirals and immunomodulators to treat HIV, HBV, influenza and other infectious diseases. He was part of the team that advanced Elipida® (RO4970335), a potent and highly selective NNRTI, into clinical development . He led the teams that developed a first-in-class small-molecule viral expression inhibitor (RG7834) and a liver-targeted anti-HBV locked nucleic acid (RG6004). His work also led to discovery of PAPD5/7 as host factors for HBV expression. He has authored more than 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications in high-impact journals and holds more than 11 issued patents and applications.
- Kevin Lin, M.D., vice president of development, has over 30 years of experience in the biotechnology industry in the areas of process development, technology transfer, scale up, troubleshooting, GMP manufacturing, and CMC regulatory submission. He has worked at several biotech companies, such as Bayer Healthcare, Catalant, Avid Bioservices, ImmunityBio, and Kindred Biosciences.
- Jeff Zablocki, Ph.D., vice president of chemistry, has led chemistry teams at AbbVie, Gilead, CV Therapeutics, Amgen, and Searle. Dr. Zablocki has discovered 15 development compounds including 3 approved agents: Lexiscan™ – an adenosine A2A agonist used in over 60 million patients as a pharmacological stress agent capturing a large market share; Ranexa™ for stable angina; and Voxilaprevir™ for Hepatitis C where he helped address pre-clinical metabolism challenges by applying novel medicinal chemistry approaches.
About Bluejay’s Pipeline
Bluejay Therapeutics has two lead programs that are focused on the reduction of HBsAg load and the reconstitution of an antiviral immune response to achieve a functional cure for chronic HBV infection (CHBV). BJT-778, a best-in-class human anti-HBsAg monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated rapid depletion of peripheral HBsAg in vivo in mouse model of chronic HBV infection showing great potential to be a critical component of CHBV curative therapies. BJT-574, a first-in-class oral small molecule HBsAg inhibitor, can effectively reduce HBsAg production from HBV-infected hepatocytes and is expected to be an effective partner for BJT-778 as a compelling new combination approach to a functional cure for CHBV.
About Bluejay Therapeutics
Bluejay Therapeutics is a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of cures for infectious diseases. The company’s first target indication is chronic Hepatitis B, which remains a worldwide prevalent disease with urgent unmet medical need. Bluejay is advancing two innovative approaches with the potential for high rate of functional cure: best-in-class fully human IgG1 anti-HBs monoclonal antibodies and first-in-class HBsAg oral small molecule inhibitors. The company believes that by reducing hepatitis B surface antigen and restoring adaptive immunity a functional cure could be achieved for patients. For more information on Bluejay, please visit the company’s website at www.bluejaytx.com.
Contact:
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