Incysus Announces Appointment of Siraj Ali, MD, PhD to Its Scientific Advisory Board

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2017 -- Incysus, Ltd., a biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering an innovative gamma-delta (γδ) T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers, today announced the addition of Siraj Ali, MD, PhD to its Scientific Advisory Board.

“γδ T cells are a promising avenue of therapy that can provide a complementary approach to the current successes with cancer immunotherapy—particularly for tumors that may harbor a low tumor mutational burden and are considered ‘cold’.  I am honored to bring a perspective rooted in genomic biomarkers to support Incysus’ development of critically needed anti-neoplastic cellular therapies,” said Dr. Ali.

“As Incysus embarks on first-in-human therapies for leukemia and high-grade glioma, Dr. Ali’s expertise in cancer recognition and function will be a powerful addition to our team of scientific advisors as we continue our advances in γδ T cell-based therapies,” said Dr. Lawrence Lamb, Professor of Medicine and Director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Cell Therapy Laboratory and a scientific co-founder of Incysus.

Dr. Ali joins a distinguished group of oncologists and immunologists providing their expertise and guidance, including Bianca Santomasso, MD, PhD, Bruce Levine, PhD, Dieter Kabelitz, MD, and Marcela Maus, MD, PhD.

Dr. Siraj Ali is a physician-scientist and leads translational research efforts at Foundation Medicine.  He focuses on identifying predictive biomarkers for targeted anti-neoplastic and cancer immunotherapies, which encompasses both basic cancer biology and exceptional responders in the clinic.  Siraj earned his BS in Biophysics Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University and MD-PhD program from Harvard Medical School supported by a HHMI fellowship and the Medical Scientist Training Program.  He completed residency training at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School in Boston and is board-certified in Anatomic Pathology.

“Dr. Ali’s knowledge and experience will be invaluable as we move our innovative immunotherapy programs into patients,” said William Ho, Chief Executive Officer of Incysus.  The company is advancing rapidly with the recent FDA approval of its first investigational new drug application (IND) to test the safety and activity of an allogeneic γδ T cell infusion in the transplant setting and a second IND filing in glioblastoma expected around year-end.

About Incysus, Ltd. 
Incysus is focused on delivering a novel off-the-shelf cell therapy for the treatment of cancer. By using genetically modified gamma-delta (γδ) T cells, our technology addresses the challenges that immunotherapies face targeting cold, low mutation cancers. Incysus’ immuno-oncology programs include activated and gene-modified adoptive cellular therapies that protect cells from chemotherapy and allow novel combinations to disrupt the tumor microenvironment and more selectively target cancer cells. For more information, visit www.incysus.com.

Contact:
Incysus, Ltd
(646) 820-8474
[email protected]