September 27, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Hugh O’Dowd, the former head of global strategy at Novartis AG ’s oncology division, has been tapped to helm Massachusetts-based immuno-oncology company, Neon Therapeutics.
O’Dowd will succeed Cary Pfeffer, the company’s interim chief executive officer, who now takes on the role of chairman of Neon’s board of directors. Pfeffer is also a partner at Third Rock Ventures.
O’Dowd comes to the company shortly after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted the company’s investigational New Drug Application for NEO-PV-01. The experimental NEO-PV-01 is a personalized vaccine designed specifically for each patient based on the neoantigen mutations unique to that patient’s tumor DNA. The company is initiating a Phase Ib trial evaluating safety, tolerability and efficacy of NEO-PV-01 as part of a combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb ’s blockbuster PD-1 inhibitor, Opdivo. The combination therapy is aimed at treating melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and bladder cancer.
In a statement, O’Dowd said immuno-oncology is on the cusp of changing the way cancer patients are treated and touted the work Neon Therapeutics has already done, including moving NEO-PV-01 to an accepted IND. He said the company’s science “has the potential to fundamentally change cancer treatment.”
“I am proud to join this exceptional group of founders, board of directors and the rest of the Neon Therapeutics team, and I look forward to advancing the company’s truly groundbreaking modalities to improve patients’ lives,” O’Dowd said in a statement.
O’Dowd spent the past 20 years of his career at Novartis in various leadership capacities. In addition to helming global strategy at Novartis Oncology , O’Dowd was responsible for global commercialization for the oncology portfolio, including Global Brand Leadership, Health Economics & Pricing, Early Phase Commercial Development, Strategic Capabilities, Business Development & Licensing and Global Sales Excellence. While at Novartis O’Dowd held a leading role in the commercialization of blood-cancer drug Gleevec.
Before joining Novartis in 1996, O’Dowd spent four years in sales at GlaxoSmithKline . O’Dowd holds a B.A. from Loyola University Chicago and an MBA from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University Chicago.
“Hugh brings great depth of expertise in oncology, and has played a pivotal role in building Novartis Oncology into one of the world’s leading oncology companies,” Pfeffer said in a statement. “Hugh’s broad drug development and commercialization experience, combined with his personable, motivating leadership style, will be critical to Neon Therapeutics as we rapidly advance our neoantigen-based immuno-oncology treatments for patients in need.”
