OncoSec Appoints Robert M. Schinagl, Ph.D. as Vice President of Program and Alliance Management
OncoSec Medical (NASDAQ:ONCS) appointed Dr. Robert M. Schinagl as Vice President of Program and Alliance Management on May 17, 2021. With over 20 years in biotech, Dr. Schinagl aims to strengthen partnerships and drive development of OncoSec's lead product, TAVO™, an immunotherapy for cancer. His previous roles include COO at Prothex Pharma, where he managed strategic operations and collaborations. Dr. Schinagl will receive 35,000 stock options, vesting over two years. TAVO™ has demonstrated promising results in clinical trials and has received Orphan Drug and Fast-Track Designation from the FDA.
- Dr. Schinagl's extensive experience is expected to enhance strategic partnerships.
- Strengthened leadership may accelerate development of TAVO™.
- Concerns about continuity and experience gaps following a management change.
PENNINGTON, N.J. and SAN DIEGO, May 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OncoSec Medical Incorporated (NASDAQ:ONCS) (the "Company" or "OncoSec") today announced the appointment of Robert M. Schinagl, Ph.D., a biotech industry veteran with over 20 years of experience, as Vice President of Program and Alliance Management, effective May 17, 2021.
"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Schinagl to OncoSec's management team as the company continues to make progress in the development of our lead product candidate, TAVO™," said Daniel J. O'Connor, President and Chief Executive Officer of OncoSec. "As we actively seek opportunities through strategic partnerships and uphold our mission to bring transformative solutions to patients in need, we believe Dr. Schinagl's significant leadership expertise in project and alliance management will help drive OncoSec in the direction of joining forces and leveraging a fully-integrated immuno-oncology platform."
Dr. Schinagl added, "I am excited to work with Dan and the OncoSec leadership team at a pivotal point in the Company's history as it continues to advance TAVO through clinical development. I look forward to helping the Company continue its positive momentum and working with potential partners to bring its ground-breaking science to patients not benefitting from currently available cancer treatments."
Dr. Schinagl most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at Prothex Pharma, Inc., where he was responsible for strategy, clinical development, regulatory affairs, business development, and portfolio and alliance management. He led all regulatory and health authority interactions and led drug development teams, driving collaboration among employees, consultants, academic experts, vendors and partners. Dr. Schinagl supported business development by assessing in-license opportunities and coordinating due diligence efforts for out-licensing, and he was a member of the Prothex's joint development committees.
Prior to Prothex, Dr. Schinagl held a variety of project and alliance leadership positions at Drais Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, ImClone Systems, Yamanouchi Pharma America, Quintiles Advanced Phase Solutions, and Osiris Therapeutics. In these roles, Dr. Schinagl led a range of leading drug development programs largely focused on oncology. Dr. Schinagl earned doctorate and master's degrees in bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego and his bachelor's degree in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
As of May 17, 2021, Dr. Schinagl will be granted an initial grant of 35,000 stock options. These stock options will have an exercise price equal to the closing price of the Company's common stock on the date of grant and will be
About TAVO™
OncoSec's gene therapy technology combines TAVO (tavokinogene telseplasmid), a DNA plasmid-based interleukin-12 (IL-12), with an intra-tumoral electroporation gene delivery platform to achieve endogenous IL-12 production in the tumor microenvironment that enables the immune system to target and attack tumors throughout the body. TAVO has demonstrated a local and systemic anti-tumor response in several clinical trials, including the pivotal Phase 2b trial KEYNOTE-695 for metastatic melanoma and the KEYNOTE-890 Phase 2 trial in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). TAVO has received both Orphan Drug and Fast-Track Designation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
About OncoSec Medical Incorporated
OncoSec Medical Incorporated (the "Company," "OncoSec," "we" or "our") is a biotechnology company focused on developing cytokine-based intratumoral immunotherapies to stimulate the body's immune system to target and attack cancer. OncoSec's lead immunotherapy investigational product candidate – TAVO™ (tavokinogene telseplasmid) – enables the intratumoral delivery of DNA-based interleukin-12 (IL-12), a naturally occurring protein with immune-stimulating functions. The technology, which employs electroporation, is designed to produce a controlled, localized expression of IL-12 in the tumor microenvironment, enabling the immune system to target and attack tumors throughout the body. OncoSec has built a deep and diverse clinical pipeline utilizing TAVO™ as a potential treatment for multiple cancer indications either as a monotherapy or in combination with leading checkpoint inhibitors; with the latter potentially enabling OncoSec to address a great unmet medical need in oncology: anti-PD-1 non-responders. Results from recently completed clinical studies of TAVO™ have demonstrated a local immune response, and subsequently, a systemic effect as either a monotherapy or combination treatment approach along with an acceptable safety profile, warranting further development. In addition to TAVO™, OncoSec is identifying and developing new DNA-encoded therapeutic candidates and tumor indications for use with its new Visceral Lesion Applicator (VLA), to target deep visceral lesions, such as liver, lung or pancreatic lesions. For more information, please visit www.oncosec.com.
TAVO™ is a trademark of OncoSec Medical Incorporated.
Risk Factors and Forward-Looking Statements
This release, as well as other information provided from time to time by the Company or its employees, may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide the Company's current beliefs, expectations and intentions regarding future events and involve risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Company's control) and assumptions. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "should," "will" and "would" and similar expressions (including the negative of these terms). Although we believe that expectations reflected in the forward- looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only at the time they are published on or as otherwise specified, and does not undertake to update or revise these statements as more information becomes available, except as required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC"). In particular, you should be aware that the success and timing of our clinical trials, including safety and efficacy of our product candidates, patient accrual, unexpected or expected safety events, the impact of COVID-19 on the supply of our candidates or the initiation or completion of clinical trials and the usability of data generated from our trials may differ and may not meet our estimated timelines. Please refer to the risk factors and other cautionary statements provided in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2019 and subsequent periodic and current reports filed with the SEC (each of which can be found at the SEC's website www.sec.gov), as well as other factors described from time to time in the Company's filings with the SEC.
Company Contact
Brian Leuthner
Chief Operating Officer
investors@oncosec.com
Media Contact
Patrick Bursey
LifeSci Communications
+1-646-970-4688
pbursey@lifescicomms.com
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SOURCE OncoSec Medical Incorporated
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