Anza Therapeutics, Inc.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novome Biotechnologies, Inc., a biotechnology company engineering first-in-class, living medicines for chronic diseases, today announced the appointments of David N. Cook, PhD, and Zachary Hornby, both accomplished biotechnology executives, to the Company's Board of Directors. "It’s an honor to welcome Dave and Zach to the Novome Board of Directors—their proven leadership within key roles and across relevant organizations is a perfect fit for Novome," said Blake Wise, Chief Executive Officer of Novome. “We are well positioned to become a leader in the field of living therapeutics, leveraging controlled colonization of the gut with therapeutically engineered bacteria, and I’m pleased that Dave and Zach, along with our existing board members, share the vision around the potential of our transformative platform.” Dr. Cook and Mr. Hornby will join Novome’s current Board of Directors which includes Andrew Schwab, Managing Partner at 5AM Ventures, Kiersten Stead, Managing Partner at DCVC Bio, Dan Janney, Managing Partner at Alta Partners, and Novome leadership team members Will DeLoache, Novome’s Chief Scientific Officer, and Blake Wise, CEO. Mr. Wise added, "Dave is a scientist and company builder who has held senior operating and executive positions in the biotech industry for more than 25 years. In addition, he has direct strategic and fundraising experience in the microbiome field, and has been instrumental in moving drugs for inflammatory bowel disease and immuno-oncology from research into the clinic.” “Zach has served in executive and director roles for multiple private and public biotechnology companies. His expertise and thought leadership will greatly benefit Novome as we advance our lead program in secondary hyperoxaluria towards a Phase 1 clinical trial this quarter—after the very recent FDA clearance of our first IND application—and expand our platform and pipeline to address additional diseases,” commented Wise. Dr. Cook is currently Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Forma Therapeutics, whose focus is rare hematologic diseases and cancers. Prior to Forma, Dave served as CSO for Seres Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company developing treatments by modulating the function of the human microbiome. Prior to Seres, he was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a global not-for-profit R&D organization whose mission is to develop a globally accessible HIV vaccine. Dave was the founding CEO at Anza Therapeutics, a start-up developing a novel microbial vaccine platform to induce cellular immune responses for the treatment of cancer and chronic infections. Before launching Anza, Dave worked at Cerus and Eligix, with oversight of R&D, program management, manufacturing, and clinical and regulatory affairs. Dave earned his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and his undergraduate degree from Harvard University. Mr. Hornby is currently CEO, President and a Director at Boundless Bio, a next-generation precision oncology company developing innovative cancer therapeutics. He is also a member of the Board of Directors at Aardvark Therapeutics. Prior to Boundless Bio, Mr. Hornby was COO at Ignyta (acquired by Roche for $1.7 billion), where he led business development, and was responsible for advancing Ignyta’s four clinical stage product candidates. Before becoming COO, as Ignyta’s Chief Financial Officer, he oversaw their transition to a public company. Prior to Ignyta, Mr. Hornby served in roles of increasing responsibility across business development, marketing, new product planning, finance and regulatory affairs at Fate Therapeutics, Halozyme Therapeutics, Neurocrine Biosciences and Transkaryotic Therapeutics, and was a life sciences consultant at L.E.K. Consulting. Mr. Hornby earned BS and MS degrees in biology, with a concentration in neuroscience, from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. About NovomeNovome Biotechnologies, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing engineered cellular therapies for the gut to treat chronic diseases. The Company has developed the first-ever platform for the controlled colonization of the gut with engineered bacteria to deliver targeted therapeutic cargos and functions, enabling first-in-class living therapeutics: Genetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs). Novome is utilizing its proprietary GEMMs platform in its lead program in secondary hyperoxaluria, which is focused on the development of a therapeutic strain of bacteria that degrades oxalate to decrease the risk of kidney stone formation. Efforts are also directed toward advancing pipeline indications in irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and immuno-oncology. Source: Novome Biotechnologies, Inc.