WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Palleon Pharmaceuticals, a company pioneering the field of glycan-mediated immune regulation to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases, today announced the appointment of Nikola Trbovic, Ph.D., Executive Director and Partner at Pfizer Ventures, as a member of its Board of Directors.

“Nikola’s expertise in R&D and corporate finance will be an asset to Palleon, and we are very pleased to welcome him to the Board. Nikola will replace Bill Burkoth, who we would like to thank for the valuable support and guidance that he has given to Palleon over the years,” said Jim Broderick, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Palleon. “This is an exciting time of growth for the company as our lead program, an enzymatic sialoglycan degrader for T cell exhaustion in cancer, is expected to enter clinical testing later this year. We look forward to working closely with Nikola as we advance our programs to first-in-human clinical trials and beyond.”

In his current role at Pfizer Ventures, Dr. Trbovic is responsible for identifying, evaluating, making and managing equity investments aligned with the future directions of Pfizer. He is a board member of several venture-backed biotechnology companies. Previously, Dr. Trbovic held responsibilities for R&D technology investments, R&D strategy, and early clinical portfolio management in Worldwide Research & Development at Pfizer. Dr. Trbovic joined Pfizer from McKinsey & Company, where he served as an Associate Principal and senior member of the Pharmaceuticals Practice. Dr. Trbovic received his B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Frankfurt, Germany, and holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from Columbia University.

“Glycan-mediated immune regulation has significant potential across several important oncology and inflammatory disease indications,” said Dr. Trbovic. “I look forward to working with the Palleon team as they advance this truly novel approach to treating patients who suffer from these deadly diseases.”

About Palleon Pharmaceuticals

Palleon Pharmaceuticals is the leading biotechnology company developing drugs that target glycan-mediated immune regulation to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases. The company’s proprietary platforms integrate technologies and insights from global scientific leaders in the glyco-immunology field to overcome historical scientific hurdles and create novel therapeutics for devastating diseases characterized by immune system dysfunction. Palleon’s lead program in oncology, an enzymatic sialoglycan degrader for T cell exhaustion in cancer, is expected to enter clinical testing in 2021. The company has several other drug discovery programs underway in disease areas where glycan-mediated immune regulation plays a role, including inflammatory diseases such as autoimmunity and fibrosis. The company is advancing its pipeline and development programs with a $100 million Series B financing led by Matrix Capital Management, with participation from SR One, Pfizer Ventures, Vertex Ventures HC, Takeda Ventures, AbbVie Ventures, and Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company). Learn more at www.palleonpharma.com.