WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xilio Therapeutics, a company developing potent, tumor-selective immunotherapies for patients with cancer, today announced the appointment of Rachel Humphrey, M.D. as an independent member of the Xilio Board of Directors.

“Dr. Humphrey is highly respected as a pioneer in the field of innovative oncology therapies,” said Rene Russo, Chief Executive Officer of Xilio. “Her experience leading multiple first-in-class cancer treatments from clinical development through regulatory approval will be invaluable as we advance our tumor-selective cytokine and antibody programs into the clinic. We are very fortunate to have her on the Xilio Board.”

“Xilio’s technology provides a unique opportunity to safely administer highly potent, tumor-activated cytokine therapies to patients with cancer,” said Dr. Humphrey. “I look forward to sharing my experience and insights with the very talented Xilio team, to help bring immuno-oncology to the next level with potentially transformative agents.”

Dr. Humphrey has over 20 years of experience in oncology drug development. She was recently appointed Chief Medical Officer at Black Diamond Therapeutics, a precision oncology medicine company. Prior to that, Dr. Humphrey served as Chief Medical Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of CytomX Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage oncology company. While at CytomX, she had responsibility for the clinical development of ProbodyTM Therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Previously, she held numerous senior leadership roles in cancer drug development, including Vice President, Head of Immuno-Oncology at Eli Lilly and Company, SVP and Head of Immuno-Oncology at AstraZeneca, Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer at Mirati Therapeutics, and VP, Clinical Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). Dr. Humphrey also held multiple positions in global clinical development at Bayer. Her career is notable for, among other achievements, her overall supervision of the early and late-stage clinical development of ipilimumab (Yervoy®) at BMS and sorafenib (Nexavar®) at Bayer. Dr. Humphrey received her M.D. from Case Western Reserve University and her B.A. from Harvard University. She received her training in internal medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and started her career as an oncology fellow and staff physician at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD.

About Xilio Therapeutics

Xilio Therapeutics is developing its proprietary technology to create a new class of ultra-potent immunotherapies that are activated selectively within the tumor. These tumor-selective therapies are designed to overcome the significant toxicities associated with clinically validated IO therapies, such as IL-2 and aCTLA4, which have historically limited the number of patients that can be treated and prevented patients from completing full courses of treatment. XTX201 (IL-2) and XTX101 (aCTLA4 mAb) have demonstrated tumor-selective activity in preclinical models, significantly widening the potential therapeutic index for these therapies. The broad applicability of these therapies across cancer types means that all patients could benefit from these potentially curative medicines.

Xilio was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.xiliotx.com.