Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX), a clinical-stage targeted oncology company, today announced the appointment of Dr. Julie Cherrington, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors, effective June 27, 2019. Dr. Cherrington has extensive experience in oncology drug development and has played a key role in the development of several FDA-approved products.
"Julie brings deep expertise in targeted oncology to the Board of Directors. Her expansive knowledge of preclinical and clinical drug development will be a significant asset to Mirati as we progress our sitravatinib and MRTX849 programs to the patients in need and continue to build our preclinical pipeline," said Faheem Hasnain, Chairman of the Board of Mirati Therapeutics.
Dr. Cherrington is an experienced life science executive with extensive insight in bringing drugs into the clinic and through to commercialization. She has been a key contributor to the successful development of multiple FDA-approved products, including SUTENT®, PALLADIA®, VISTIDE®, VIREAD®, and HEPSERA®. Dr. Cherrington is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Arch Oncology, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing novel anti-CD47 mAbs. Previously, she has served as President and Chief Executive Officer at several other oncology companies, including Revitope Oncology, Inc., Zenith Epigenetics, and Pathway Therapeutics, a company advancing targeted kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. In addition, she served as President and Executive Vice President R&D at Phenomix Corporation. Earlier in her career, Dr. Cherrington was Vice President of Preclinical and Clinical Research at SUGEN, a Pharmacia/Pfizer company. Dr. Cherrington began her career at Gilead Sciences, where she held a range of positions of increasing responsibility. Dr. Cherrington holds a B.S. in biology and an M.S. in microbiology from the University of California, Davis. She earned a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Minnesota and Stanford University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.
"Mirati is making great progress advancing sitravatinib into a pivotal Phase 3 trial in non-small cell lung cancer and expanding the opportunities for this drug candidate in additional types of tumors," said Dr. Cherrington. "In addition, Mirati is building a robust pipeline, including a KRAS franchise and preclinical candidates." said Dr. Cherrington. "I'm excited to be joining the Board during such a pivotal time for the company."
About Mirati Therapeutics
Mirati Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MRTX) is a San Diego-based clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to advancing novel therapeutics that extend the lives of patients by directly addressing the genetic and immunological drivers of cancer. Mirati's lead drug candidate, sitravatinib, is designed to selectively target a spectrum of tyrosine kinases implicated in both tumor growth and the suppression of immune responses to tumors. Sitravatinib has demonstrated durable responses in lung cancer patients whose cancer has progressed despite treatment with checkpoint inhibitors - an area of significant unmet medical need. Sitravatinib is being evaluated in multiple clinical trials to treat patients who are refractory to prior immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, including a potentially registration-enabling Phase 3 trial of sitravatinib in non-small cell lung cancer projected to initiate in the first half of 2019. Sitravatinib is also being evaluated as a single agent in patients with NSCLC, melanoma and other solid tumor types whose tumors harbor specific genetic alterations in CBL.
Mirati is also developing novel inhibitors of KRAS mutations including MRTX849, a potent and selective inhibitor of KRAS G12C. This previously difficult to drug target drives approximately 14% of non-small cell lung adenocarcinomas, 4% of colorectal cancer as well as smaller percentages of several other difficult-to-treat cancers. MRTX849 is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial as a treatment for patients with KRAS G12C-positive tumors. Our research on G12C has led to breakthroughs in targeting other KRAS mutations including G12D which drives tumor growth in more patients than G12C and includes pancreatic, colorectal and other types of cancer. For more information, visit www.mirati.com.
