NEW YORK, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cytovia Therapeutics, Inc (Cytovia), an emerging biopharmaceutical company developing Natural Killer (NK) immunotherapies for cancer, today announces the appointment of Dr. Wei Li as acting Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), effective June 1, 2020.

During her biotech career, Dr. Li co-founded two companies and built up extensive expertise in all aspects of drug research and development, including preclinical development and pharmacology, clinical development and operations, regulatory affairs, biomarker development and biomanufacturing.

Most recently, Dr. Li was Chief Development Officer at OliX Pharmaceuticals, a leading public South Korean biotech company developing siRNA therapeutics for multiple indications. She also served as Executive Vice President, Product Development at Boston Biomedical, Inc (BBI) from 2007-2018, playing a key role in growing it from a start-up in 2007 to an industry leader in cancer stem cell research, including through the acquisition by Sumitomo Dainippon in 2012. Dr. Li led the development of napabucasin (BBI608), a first-in-class drug selected as one of the worlds top ten cancer drugs in late stage clinical development by Fierce Biotech. Dr. Li started her career at ArQule, a public biotech company developing targeted therapies for hematological malignancies and acquired by Merck &Co in 2019.

Wei Li holds a PhD in Molecular Virology from Georgia State University and completed her Postdoctoral Training at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Wei Li said: I am thrilled to be joining the great team of scientists and entrepreneurs at Cytovia Therapeutics. NK-cell based therapeutics are at an inflection point. Initial clinical trials have shown promising safety and efficacy. Off-the-shelf manufacturing promises broader and faster patient access. Cytovia Therapeutics has an excellent iPSC CAR-NK platform and a strong pipeline in both hematological and solid tumors. It is tremendously exciting to be involved in this stage of the companys development.

Dr Daniel Teper, co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Cytovia Therapeutics, Inc said: We are delighted to welcome Dr. Wei Li to Cytovia Therapeutics as Chief Scientific Officer. Wei has a stellar track record of bringing innovative oncology drugs from discovery to clinical development. Her operational excellence and entrepreneurial drive will be critical to help bring multiple iPSC CAR NK therapeutics to initial clinical trials starting in 2021.

ABOUT CYTOVIA THERAPEUTICS, INCCytovia Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company that aims to accelerate patient access to transformational immunotherapies, addressing several of the most challenging unmet medical needs in cancer and severe acute infectious diseases. Cytovia focuses on Natural Killer (NK) cell biology and is leveraging multiple advanced patented technologies, including an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform for CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptors) NK cell therapy, next-generation precision gene-editing to enhance targeting of NK cells, and NK engager multi-functional antibodies. Our initial product portfolio focuses on both hematological malignancies such as multiple myeloma and solid tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma and glioblastoma. The company partners with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Macromoltek.

Learn more at http://www.cytoviatx.com

Contact for media enquiries at Cytovia Therapeutics, IncSophie BadrVP corporate AffairsSophie.badre@cytoviatx.com1(929) 317 1565

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Cytovia Therapeutics, Inc appoints Dr. Wei Li as Chief Scientific Officer to accelerate the development of iPSC CAR-NK Cell Therapy for Cancer -...