CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ImmusanT, Inc., a clinical-stage company leveraging its Epitope-Specific Immuno-Therapy™ (ESIT™) platform to deliver first-in-class peptide-based immunomodulatory vaccine therapies to patients with autoimmune diseases, announced today the appointment of Thomas A. Shea as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO). Mr. Shea brings more than 30 years of professional financial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry to ImmusanT where he will leverage his expertise to assist the company in its fundraising and partnering activities.
“Mr. Shea’s appointment is a critical step in our company’s growth as we advance our strategic vision and expand our executive management team,” said Leslie Williams, chief executive officer for ImmusanT. “Our mission at ImmusanT is to become a world-class life sciences company to meet the critical needs of patients with autoimmune disorders. Through Tom’s significant experience, we hope to accelerate advancement of our immunotherapy programs and bring a new class of disease-modifying therapeutics to a stage where none currently exist.”
Mr. Shea brings more than 30 years of professional financial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining ImmusanT, Mr. Shea served as CFO for a number of development stage companies, most notably Albireo Pharma, a clinical-stage company developing products for children with severe liver diseases, where he was integral in taking the company public via a reverse merger with Biodel in 2016; Tolerx, Inc. from 2005 to 2011, a clinical-stage immunology company focused on type 1 diabetes; and Cubist Pharmaceuticals from 1993 to 2003, an infectious disease company that executed an IPO in 1996 and launched Cubicin in 2002. Throughout his career, Mr. Shea has raised approximately $1B of capital. Mr. Shea is also a former board member of the New England Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Mr. Shea commented, “I am delighted to join ImmusanT during this exciting time of growth. Since its inception, ImmusanT has evolved from identifying a number of novel autoimmune disease targets utilizing its proprietary technology platform to advancing multiple assets through clinical development. The Company is developing drug candidates in disease areas that are very important to me, and I would like to help advance its strategic vision of bringing novel products to patients across a broad range of autoimmune disorders.”
Mr. Shea earned his MBA from Suffolk University in Boston and his B.S. in accounting/law from Babson College in Wellesley, MA.
About ImmusanT, Inc.
At ImmusanT, we are developing a new class of therapeutic vaccines to change the lives of people living with autoimmune diseases. Our Epitope-Specific Immuno-Therapy™ (ESIT™) platform provides a precision medicine approach to restoring immune tolerance across a range of diseases, including celiac disease and type 1 diabetes. Our lead program, Nexvax2®, is in clinical development with the goal of protecting celiac disease patients against the debilitating effects of gluten. www.ImmusanT.com
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