CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TCR² Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: TCRR), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing the next generation of novel T cell therapies for patients suffering from cancer, today announced the appointment of Stephen Webster to its Board of Directors. With nearly 30 years of biotechnology industry experience in raising capital, business development transactions and operations, Mr. Webster has played important roles as the Chief Financial Officer of Spark Therapeutics, Optimer Pharmacuticals and Adolor Corporation. In connection with Mr. Webster’s arrival, Mitchell Finer, Ph.D., will be stepping down from the Board of Directors effective May 4, 2020 but will continue to serve TCR² in an advisory capacity.

"We are delighted to welcome in another successful cell and gene therapy executive as Stephen Webster joins our Board of Directors. His distinguished track record of leading companies through periods of growth will prove invaluable at this moment in time as we prepare to present clinical data for our two lead programs, TC-210 and TC-110, and advance a third mono TRuC-T cell therapy towards the clinic," said Garry Menzel, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of TCR² Therapeutics. "His business development transaction expertise will be particularly useful in helping us strike the right partnerships in pursuing our goal of developing innovative T cell therapies for patients suffering from cancer.”

Mr. Webster served as the Chief Financial Officer of Spark Therapeutics, a publicly traded gene therapy biotechnology company, from July 2014 until its acquisition by Roche for $4.3 billion in December 2019. He was previously Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Financial Officer of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biotechnology company, from July 2012 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals in October 2013. Prior to joining Optimer, Mr. Webster served as SVP and Chief Financial Officer of Adolor Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, from 2008 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals in 2011. Mr. Webster also served in leadership positions in the investment banking healthcare groups of Broadpoint Capital and PaineWebber Incorporated.

Mr. Webster has served as a director of Nabriva Therapeutics AG (formerly Nabriva Therapeutics plc), a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, since August 2016 and Viking Therapeutics, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, since May 2014. Mr. Webster received an A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“I am thrilled to become a director of TCR² Therapeutics, where there is a great opportunity to turn a distinctive TRuC-T cell platform into a series of novel treatments of cancer,” said Mr. Webster. “I look forward to working with the TCR² leadership team and Board of Directors to add my business development expertise in helping the Company achieve its goal of bringing transformational therapies to people living with serious solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.”

“On behalf of TCR² and the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Mitchell Finer for his many contributions to the rapid growth of our company,” added Dr. Menzel. “Our strategy to begin with an automated cell therapy manufacturing process benefited from working very closely with Dr. Finer, whose three decades of cell therapy manufacturing leadership provided us a significant competitive advantage in the cell therapy landscape. We look forward to continuing to benefit from his insights as he transitions from a Board member to a consultant.”

About TCR² Therapeutics

TCR² Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing the next generation of novel T cell therapies for patients suffering from cancer. TCR²’s proprietary T cell receptor (TCR) Fusion Construct T cells (TRuC^®-T cells) specifically recognize and kill cancer cells by harnessing signaling from the entire TCR, independent of human leukocyte antigens (HLA). In preclinical studies, TRuC-T cells have demonstrated superior anti-tumor activity compared to chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells), while exhibiting lower levels of cytokine release. The Company’s lead TRuC-T cell product candidate targeting solid tumors, TC-210, is currently being studied in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial to treat patients with mesothelin-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), ovarian cancer, malignant pleural/peritoneal mesothelioma, and cholangiocarcinoma. The Company’s lead TRuC-T cell product candidate targeting hematological malignancies, TC-110, is currently being studied in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial to treat patients with CD19-positive adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (aALL) and with aggressive or indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). For more information about TCR², please visit www.tcr2.com.