Developing a Neoantigen-Directed Cancer Vaccine with Gritstone Bio

Andrew Allen, MD, PhD co-founded Gritstone bio, Inc. and has served as President, CEO and a board member since 2015. In 2009, Dr Allen co-founded Clovis Oncology and served as Chief Medical Officer until 2015, driving development of Rucaparib, a PARP inhibitor. Prior he was Chief Medical Officer at Pharmion Corporation, developing Vidaza, the first approved DNA methylation inhibitor, until acquisition by Celgene in 2008. Dr Allen also served in clinical development leadership roles at Chiron Corporation and Abbott Laboratories, and worked at McKinsey & Company. He currently serves on the board of directors of TCR2 Therapeutics and Sierra Oncology (both public biopharma companies) and Revitope Oncology and Verge Genomics (both private biopharma companies). He previously served on the board of directors of Epizyme (developers of the first approved histone methylation transferase inhibitor) and Cell Design Labs (acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2017). Dr Allen qualified in medicine at Oxford University and received a PhD in immunology from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London.

Priti Hegde, PhD, joined Foundation Medicine as the Chief Scientific Officer in August 2019. Dr Hegde oversees clinical product development, cancer genomics, and early-stage research, as well as regulatory and quality assurance, to accelerate advancement of the Company’s leading comprehensive genomic profiling portfolio. She is passionate about innovation in cancer research and translating innovations to precision medicine tools to advance care for patients.Dr Hegde has spent nearly two decades in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a proven track record in drug development, registration, and commercialization of therapeutics with companion diagnostics in cancer immunotherapy.Prior to joining Foundation Medicine, Dr Hegde spent 12 years at Genentech, a member of Roche Group, where she held roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently, Dr Hegde served as senior director and principal scientist in oncology biomarker development at Genentech, during which she established and led the biomarker group accountable for translational science strategies in cancer immunotherapy. Dr Hegde was instrumental in the approvals for atezolizumab in both the United States and European Union, as well as its forthcoming diagnostic filings.Before joining Genentech, Dr Hegde was the manager of disease and biomarker transcriptomics at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr Hegde completed her post-doctoral fellow at The Institute for Genomic Research and holds a PhD in Biochemical Pharmacology from SUNY Buffalo, as well as a B. Pharmacy from Mumbai University, India.