Takeda taps former CRISPR CMO to head up cancer R&D as it trims pipeline

02 Feb 2024
firstwordpharma.com
Gene TherapyCell TherapyImmunotherapyPhase 1Executive Change
The former chief medical officer at CRISPR Therapeutics has joined Takeda as head of its oncology therapeutic area unit, which saw several programmes for the disease area cut earlier this week.
Phuong Khanh Morrow left CRISPR last December, just weeks after the company and its partner Vertex Pharmaceuticals had secured FDA approval for their CRISPR/Cas9 gene therapy Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel) to treat sickle-cell disease.
Prior to joining CRISPR in May 2022, Morrow spent over a decade at Amgen, where she served as global therapeutic area head of haematology, GI oncology, GU oncology and bone diseases. Takeda noted that during her tenure, she oversaw the development and registration of several new medicines and led late-stage development for multiple other investigational therapies.
Cell therapies slashed from pipeline
Takeda also disclosed this week it has ended development of four early-stage cancer programmes, including three CAR-T cell therapies.
The most advanced was modakafusp alfa (TAK-573), a CD38-targeted immunocytokine designed to deliver interferon alpha-2b (IFNα2b). According to ClinicalTrials.gov, the candidate was being studied in a pair of Phase I/II studies to treat relapsed refractory multiple myeloma.
Takeda’s trio of axed Phase I CAR-T programmes comprise one targeting mesothelin and a second directed against GPC3 – both for solid tumours – and a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center-partnered CD19-targeted therapy for B-cell malignancies.
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