Merus N.V. (Nasdaq: MRUS), a clinical-stage oncology company developing innovative, full-length multispecific antibodies, today announced the appointment of Andrew Joe, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Joe is a medical oncologist with extensive expertise in the development of immuno-oncology, antibody and targeted cancer therapies, and with broad leadership experience in oncology drug development.
“Andrew is an accomplished R&D leader, and he will be instrumental in advancing our clinical pipeline of multispecific antibodies, including our lead program, Zenocutuzumab (“Zeno”), for neuregulin 1 (NRG1) fusion cancers,” said Bill Lundberg, M.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer of Merus. “Andrew’s experience with approvals of molecularly-targeted and tumor-agnostic cancer therapies, as well as large basket trials, will enhance our clinical execution and personalized medicine approach with Zeno.”
Dr. Joe will oversee all clinical and regulatory strategy and activities at Merus. He brings over 20 years of experience in clinical drug development and translational research within industry and academic medicine. Dr. Joe most recently led the immuno-oncology program at Sanofi, which included co-development of LIBTAYO® (cemiplimab-rwlc) with Regeneron in skin, lung and other cancers. Previously at Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., he led the KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) New Indications Development Team in obtaining the first tumor/histology-agnostic drug approval in Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) cancer, and the first immuno-oncology drug approval in a gynecological malignancy (cervical cancer). Dr. Joe also played key roles at Novartis in the global approval of Zykadia® (ceritinib) in ALK-positive lung cancer and at Roche in the global approval of ZELBORAF® (vemurafenib) in BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma. Dr. Joe is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He received B.S. degrees in chemistry and biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
“I am thrilled to join Merus at this exciting and pivotal time,” said Dr. Joe. “The early clinical data reported on Zeno in NRG1 fusion cancers are quite promising, and I look forward to bringing the program towards potential registration. I’m equally excited about the company’s Phase 1 clinical and preclinical programs and their potential to become meaningful, transformative medicines for patients with cancer.”
About Merus
Merus is a clinical-stage oncology company developing innovative full-length human bispecific and trispecific antibody therapeutics, referred to as Multiclonics®. Multiclonics® are manufactured using industry standard processes and have been observed in preclinical and clinical studies to have several of the same features of conventional human monoclonal antibodies, such as long half-life and low immunogenicity. For additional information, please visit Merus’ website, www.merus.nl and https://twitter.com/MerusNV.
