G1 Therapeutics, which went public in May for more than $100 million and recently added retired GSK CEO Andrew Witty to its board, keeps recruiting management talent.
The startup, which is targeting cancer drug development, on Thursday disclosed the addition of two executives in a securities filing.
The Research Triangle Park-based company has hired Terry Murdock as senior vice president, development Operations, and Shannon Morris as as vice president, clinical development.
The hires are important as G1 Therapeutics is expecting Phase 2 trial data for one of its drugs and is expecting to launch a Phase 2 trial for its other drug.
“I’m excited to welcome Terry and Shannon to G1, and am confident their proven leadership and broad experience will help us maximize the potential of our oncology pipeline,” said Chief Executive Officer Mark Velleca in a statement.
Murdock most recently served as vice president and global head of the Oncology Center for Excellence at QuintilesIMS, also based in the Research Triangle Park.
“Thanks to the commitment by leading cancer researchers, along with innovative partnerships between pharma, academia, and the government to share knowledge and work collaboratively, we have made significant strides in developing new technologies and treatments for this disease. And many of the most innovative accomplishments involve immunotherapy,” Murdock wrote in a blog post about cancer research published at WRAL TechWire on World Cancer Day in 2016.
“Immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to attack cancerous cells, has played an integral role in oncology research for more than a century, but in the last few years we’ve seen many extraordinary discoveries that are transforming our approach to cancer care and dramatically improving the number of patients receiving treatment and duration of their survival.”
Prior to his tenure with QuintilesIMS, Murdock held positions including President North America at Ergomed and senior vice president at Genzyme and Ilex Oncology, where he was responsible for the Phase 3 development, approval and launch of Campath in oncology and autoimmune indications.
Morris most recently served as senior clinical director of oncology at MedImmune.
Morris was a key contributor to the first biologics license application submission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Imfinzi, an immunotherapy product for bladder cancer.
Previously, Morris held several leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline, culminating in her position as senior clinical director.
G1 Therapeutics shares fell 47 cents to $12.53 on Thursday.
Note: North Carolina Business News Wire editor Chris Roush contributed to this report.
