NEWARK, Calif., Sept. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rain Therapeutics Inc., a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company focused on targeted therapies for patients with cancer, today announced the appointment of Rain co-founder Robert Doebele, MD, PhD, as chief scientific officer (CSO). Dr. Doebele has served as chair of the scientific advisory board and acting CSO since Rain’s founding. He will now transition to Rain full-time in the executive vice president (EVP) and CSO role, departing his position at the University of Colorado, Denver as associate professor of medicine. In his new role, Dr. Doebele will be responsible for leading Rain’s research and development efforts.
While at the University of Colorado, Dr. Doebele discovered NTRK1 fusions in lung cancer and pioneered the development of the pan-TRK inhibitor ARRY-470, subsequently renamed larotrectinib (VITRAKVI®) from Loxo Oncology, and entrectinib (ROZLYTREK®) from Ignyta Pharmaceuticals.
“Working with Bob since the founding of Rain has been a great privilege, and we are thrilled to officially welcome him in a full-time capacity,” said Avanish Vellanki, co-founder and chief executive officer of Rain. “As a visionary leader in the precision oncology space with unparalleled experience in developing tumor-agnostic approaches to cancer treatment, we are in keen anticipation of Bob’s impact on the corporate biotechnology industry post his departure from academia.”
Dr. Doebele added, “Rain is at a pivotal juncture in its evolution, and I am excited to transition full time to the company. Rain’s pipeline, which now includes RAIN-32, a potent MDM2 inhibitor, and a RAD52 inhibitor program in addition to our first clinical candidate, Tarlox, has the potential to make a transformative impact in the lives of patients with difficult-to-treat cancers. I look forward to leading the team as we develop tumor-agnostic, biomarker-driven trials to advance our targeted oncology candidates.”
Dr. Doebele co-founded Rain Therapeutics in April 2017 and currently serves as chair of the scientific advisory board. Prior to joining Rain full time, Dr. Doebele served as associate professor of medicine in the division of medical oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, director of the Thoracic Oncology Research Initiative at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and as principle investigator for the University of Colorado Lung Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence. In addition, he served as a senior editor of the AACR journal, Clinical Cancer Research and was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2018. Dr. Doebele received his AB in molecular biology from Princeton University and received his MD and PhD in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania. He conducted his internal medicine residency and medical oncology fellowship at the University of Chicago.
About Rain Therapeutics Inc.
Rain Therapeutics Inc. is a privately-held biotechnology company developing targeted therapies for patients with cancer. Rain’s lead program is RAIN-32, a small molecule MDM2 inhibitor for patients with well-differentiated and de-differentiated liposarcoma, and other indications exhibiting MDM2 gene amplification or overexpression. RAIN-32 has completed clinical trials in certain solid tumors and hematological malignancies and has received FDA Orphan Drug Designation for patients with liposarcoma. Tarloxotinib, a hypoxia-activated pan-HER inhibitor is in clinical trials for patients with non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations and HER2 activating mutations, as well as a tumor-agnostic cohort for patients with NRG1, EGFR, HER2, and HER4 fusions. Rain is also developing a potential first-in-class inhibitor of RAD52 in the DNA Damage Response (DDR) pathway as a synthetic lethal strategy for tumors with BRCA1/2 mutations. For more information, visit www.rainthera.com.
Media Contact for Rain
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LifeSci Communications
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