CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Unum Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: UMRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of cellular immunotherapies to treat cancer based on its novel T cell technology platforms, ACTR and BOXR, today announced the appointments of Arlene Morris and Matthew Ros to its Board of Directors. Ms. Morris and Mr. Ros will replace Robert Perez and Liam Ratcliffe, who are both transitioning from Unum’s Board of Directors in conjunction with their new positions within the biotechnology industry.

“We are delighted with the appointments of Arlene and Matt to our Board of Directors. Both Arlene and Matt bring significant commercial, clinical and operational experience within the oncology field and will be of tremendous value to our organization as we continue to invest in our ACTR and BOXR platforms by advancing our preclinical and clinical programs for hematologic and solid tumor cancers,” said Chuck Wilson, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Unum. “I also want to thank Liam and Rob for their service and commitment to Unum over the past several years and congratulate them on their new roles.”

Ms. Morris currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Willow Advisors, a consultancy advising biotech companies on financing, strategy and business development. She brings extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries from numerous management and board roles. Previously, she spent over a decade leading public biotechnology companies, as Chief Executive Officer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of an epigenetic therapy for treatment-resistant cancers, and prior, as President and Chief Executive Officer of Affymax, where she led the company through the development of peginesatide (Omontys^®). Ms. Morris also held various management and executive positions at Clearview Projects, Coulter Pharmaceutical, Scios Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Viveve, Palatin Technologies, and Neovacs, SA.

Mr. Ros currently serves as Chief Strategy and Business Officer at Epizyme, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel epigenetic therapies. He has more than 25 years of experience with global pharmaceutical and early-stage biotechnology companies, building and leading teams across sales, marketing, franchise strategy and operations. Prior to joining Epizyme, Mr. Ros served as Chief Operating Officer and Global Head of the Oncology Business Unit at Sanofi-Genzyme and held leadership positions at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Ros began his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in its Oncology division, contributing to the successful launches of TAXOL, ERBITUX^®, SPRYCEL^® and IXEMPRA^®. Mr. Ros previously served on the Board of Trustees of CancerCARE, a leading national organization dedicated to providing free, professional support services to people affected by cancer.

About Unum Therapeutics

Unum Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company providing potentially curative T cell therapies to treat a broad range of cancer patients. Unum’s novel proprietary technologies include Antibody-Coupled T cell Receptor (ACTR), a universal, engineered cell therapy intended to be used in combination with a wide range of tumor-specific antibodies to target different tumor types, and Bolt-On Chimeric Receptor (BOXR), an approach for improving T cell functionality in solid tumor cancer applications. Unum has multiple programs in Phase 1 clinical testing, including ACTR707 used in combination with rituximab in adult patients with r/r NHL and used in combination with trastuzumab in adult patients with HER2+ advanced cancer, and ACTR087 used in combination with the novel antibody SEA-BCMA in r/r multiple myeloma. The Company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.