Amunix Pharmaceuticals Announces the Appointment of Dr. Bryan Irving as Chief Scientific Officer

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – June 26, 2019 – Amunix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Amunix”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on enabling the promise of potent immune-activating biotherapeutics in solid tumors, today announced the appointment of Dr. Bryan Irving, Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer. 

“We are thrilled to have recruited an accomplished immunologist such as Bryan to Amunix,” said Angie You, CEO of Amunix.  “Bryan’s unique combination of experience in immuno-oncology and tumor protease-activated pro-drugs make him the ideal person to lead our immune-focused Pro-XTEN platform.”

About Dr. Bryan Irving, Ph.D.

Dr. Irving’s research career has focused primarily on exploring ways to modulate T cell activity for therapeutic benefit in both autoimmune and oncology settings.  He most recently served as the CSO of Five Prime, where he led research and preclinical development.  Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Cancer Immunology at CytomX, leading efforts to generate protease-activatable immunotherapies.  Dr. Irving also worked for 12 years at Genentech, with dual appointments in the Departments of Immunology and Oncology/Cancer Immunotherapy.  He was a key inventor and research leader for Genentech’s PD-L1 immunotherapy, atezolizumab (Tecentriq).

Dr. Irving received a B.A. in Physiology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).  His doctoral work, performed in the laboratory of Dr. Art Weiss, pioneered the single-chain chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology now being used to treat hematologic malignancies.  He performed post-doctoral work at Harvard and UCSF on early T cell development.

About Amunix Pharmaceuticals 

Amunix Pharmaceuticals, based in Mountain View, CA, is leveraging precision protein engineering to enable the promise of T cell engagers and other immune-activating agents in solid tumors.  Our proprietary XTEN polypeptide polymer has a longstanding history and is clinically validated for extending half-life.  We are leveraging the unique properties of XTEN in our Pro-XTEN platform, a next generation protease-activated pro-drug platform that enables selective activation of potent cancer therapies in the tumor microenvironment. Amunix’s two lead programs from our Pro-XTEN platform are T cell engagers designed to overcome the common challenge of on-target, off-tumor toxicity of potent immune regulators.  

Amunix’s technology platforms have been validated through multiple collaborations with leading biopharmaceutical companies including Celgene, Genentech, Janssen, Roche, Bioverativ, and Baxter.  Frazier Healthcare Partners is a majority shareholder.

For additional information about the company, please visit www.amunix.com.

Contact:
Darcy Mootz, Ph.D., CBO
BD@amunix.com