Industry veteran brings extensive oncology drug development expertise and experience in clinical treatment of cancer patients
Dr. Matushansky joins as Immuneering plans to present updated data from Phase 2a trial of IMM-1-104 in pancreatic cancer in Q2 2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immuneering (Nasdaq: IMRX), a clinical-stage oncology company seeking to develop and commercialize more effective and better tolerated therapies for cancer patients, today announced that Igor Matushansky, MD, PhD, has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer. In this role, he will direct Immuneering’s clinical activities, providing medical and operational leadership for the company’s development programs including an ongoing Phase 2a study of lead program IMM-1-104 in pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and melanoma, and plans to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in pancreatic cancer.
“The Phase 2a data we shared in January demonstrates the potential of IMM-1-104 to provide first line pancreatic cancer patients with a new option that is more effective and better tolerated than standard of care. Dr. Matushansky has dedicated his career to oncology – both as a researcher and as practicing oncologist working with cancer patients – and as a result, has a direct understanding of the patient experience,” said Ben Zeskind, Ph.D., CEO of Immuneering. “This is the perfect time to bring on a world-class CMO as we continue to execute our Phase 2a study and plan our pivotal study for IMM-1-104.”
“In my clinical practice, I have seen firsthand how vitally important quality of life is to cancer patients. Too often tolerability is an afterthought in oncology drug development. In clinical data thus far, Immuneering has demonstrated the potential for IMM-1-104 to profoundly improve tolerability and efficacy in treatment options for pancreatic cancer and other difficult-to-treat cancers,” Dr. Matushansky said. “I am very pleased to be joining this outstanding organization to help unlock the full potential of the company’s platform, and look forward to working with the company’s CSO Brett Hall and the entire Immuneering R&D team on the ongoing Phase 2a study, the planning and execution of a pivotal trial, and multiple other studies and programs in the months and years ahead.”
Dr. Matushansky was previously Chief Medical Officer at Sail Biomedicines (a Flagship Pioneering company), where he built and led the clinical/medical, translational, operational, and regulatory functions. Prior to that, he was SVP and Global Head of Oncology Development at Ipsen Pharmaceuticals, where, amongst many programs, he oversaw the completion of NAPOLI-3 leading to the approval of NALIRIFOX for first-line pancreatic cancer. Dr. Matushansky also served as Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of Research and Development at Hookipa Pharma, where he was responsible for bringing novel arenavirus technology from early preclinical to clinical proof-of-concept. He also served as Global Head of Oncology Early Development at Daiichi Sankyo, leading the company’s international research unit focused on early oncology therapeutic programs, and was Global Head at the Gene & Cell Therapy Unit and Global Clinical Program Head within the Oncology Translational Medicine Unit at Novartis. He began his career in academia at the Columbia University Medical Center, where he founded and directed a sarcoma center and ran a laboratory focused on the molecular basis of sarcomas. He earned his BA from Columbia University and his MD and a PhD in molecular biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He performed his internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and completed a fellowship in medical oncology and a post-doctoral research fellowship in cancer biology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Matushansky continues to dedicate time to taking care of sarcoma patients as an attending physician.
About Immuneering Corporation
Immuneering is a clinical-stage oncology company seeking to develop and commercialize more effective and better tolerated therapies for cancer patients. The Company’s lead product candidate, IMM-1-104, is an oral, once-daily deep cyclic inhibitor of MEK designed to improve tolerability and expand indications to include RAS-driven tumors such as most pancreatic cancers. IMM-1-104 is currently in a Phase 1/2a trial in patients with advanced solid tumors including pancreatic cancer. IMM-6-415 is an oral, twice-daily deep cyclic inhibitor of MEK currently in a Phase 1/2a trial in patients with advanced solid tumors harboring RAS or RAF mutations. The company’s development pipeline also includes several early-stage programs. For more information, please visit www.immuneering.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding: Immuneering’s plans to develop, manufacture and commercialize its product candidates; the treatment potential of IMM-1-104, alone or in combination with other agents, including chemotherapy, checkpoint inhibitors and BRAF inhibitors; the plans and objectives of Company management for future operations, including with respect to the planning and execution of additional IMM-1-104 combination trials and potential pivotal trial of IMM-1-104 in combination with modified gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel; and the timing for release of additional results from the Phase 2a portion of the trial for IMM-1-104.
These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the risks inherent in oncology drug research and development, including target discovery, target validation, lead compound identification, and lead compound optimization; we have incurred significant losses, are not currently profitable and may never become profitable; our projected cash runway; our need for additional funding and ability to continue as a going concern; our unproven approach to therapeutic intervention; our ability to address regulatory questions and the uncertainties relating to regulatory filings, reviews and approvals; the lengthy, expensive, and uncertain process of clinical drug development, including potential delays in or failure to obtain regulatory approvals; our reliance on third parties and collaborators to conduct our clinical trials, manufacture our product candidates, and develop and commercialize our product candidates, if approved; failure to compete successfully against other drug companies; protection of our proprietary technology and the confidentiality of our trade secrets; potential lawsuits for, or claims of, infringement of third-party intellectual property or challenges to the ownership of our intellectual property; our patents being found invalid or unenforceable; costs and resources of operating as a public company; and unfavorable or no analyst research or reports.
These and other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2024, and our other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
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