Mr. Marda joins Cabaletta with 17 years of financial leadership experience
RADNOR, Pa., Jan. 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cabaletta Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of cellular therapies for B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases, has appointed Anup Marda, MBA, as Chief Financial Officer effective immediately. Mr. Marda joins Cabaletta with 17 years of financial leadership experience, most recently as Vice President and Head of Global Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS).
“Anup’s breadth of financial experience across translational research, clinical operations, manufacturing, regulatory and commercial aspects of product development prepare him well for this role,” said Steven Nichtberger, M.D., Co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Cabaletta Bio. “Anup’s experience at BMS will be particularly relevant as we anticipate rapidly evolving to become a clinical stage company while expanding our pipeline and our emerging in-house translational research and advanced manufacturing capabilities.”
Mr. Marda was an accomplished leader in the BMS finance organization who partnered closely with R&D, clinical and commercial colleagues. During his 17-year career at BMS, he held many roles with increasing responsibility. Most recently, he was Vice President, Head of Global Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis. Previously, Mr. Marda spent four years in leadership roles supporting R&D, including leading a team responsible for providing financial and business support for multiple groups, including: Discovery, Translational Medicine, Pharmaceutical Development, Global Clinical Operations, Global Regulatory, Operations and Global Medical. He was also head of Finance, R&D Portfolio Management, World-wide Commercial and Global Medical, a role created at the time to better integrate R&D, commercial and medical decision-making. Mr. Marda was also the Assistant Treasurer, Head of Capital Markets as well as Executive Director, Finance of the U.S. Immunoscience business. Mr. Marda earned his MBA from Krannert School of Business, Purdue University and a Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
“My initial attraction to Cabaletta was its novel CAAR T cell therapy platform designed to treat very challenging B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases that have, up to now, been less than adequately managed,” said Mr. Marda. “In addition, the top-tier management team, highly regarded scientific advisors and license and research collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania convinced me that joining the Cabaletta team would be an exciting new challenge. I look forward to working with my new colleagues in bringing this new platform and products to patients.”
Editor’s Note: Dr. Nichtberger is a University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”) adjunct faculty member and holds an equity stake in the Company, and Penn is an equity holder and investor in the Company. In addition, both Penn and the inventors of the licensed technology may receive additional financial benefits under the license in the future.
About CAAR T Cell Therapy
Chimeric AutoAntibody Receptor (CAAR) T cells are engineered to bind and destroy only disease-causing B cells, while sparing the normal B cells which are essential for human health. CAAR T cells are based on the revolutionary chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell technology developed at the University of Pennsylvania. Rather than a CD19-targeting molecule, CAAR T cells express an autoantibody-targeted antigen on their surface. The 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain and the CD3-zeta signaling domain of the CAAR construct carry out the same activation and cytotoxic functions as in CAR T cells. Thus, Cabaletta’s CAARs direct the patient’s T cells to kill only the self-reactive B cell population, potentially leading to complete and durable remission of disease while sparing all other B cell populations that provide beneficial immunity from infection.
About Cabaletta Bio
Cabaletta Bio is focused on the discovery and development of T cell therapies for B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. Cabaletta’s therapeutic platform produces highly selective autologous Chimeric AutoAntibody Receptor (CAAR) T cells that are designed to precisely bind and destroy only specific autoantibody-producing B cells while sparing normal antibody-producing B cells, which are essential for human health. The platform is based on the revolutionary Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell technology developed at the University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”) that resulted in one of the first commercially-available CAR T cell products for the treatment of B cell malignancies. Cabaletta was founded by Penn physician/scientists Michael Milone, M.D., Ph.D., and Aimee Payne, M.D., Ph.D., who serve as co-chairs of Cabaletta’s Scientific Advisory Board and Steven Nichtberger, M.D., CEO of Cabaletta. Cabaletta has an exclusive global licensing agreement and multiple sponsored research agreements with the University of Pennsylvania to develop the CAAR T technology to treat B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. The Company’s lead therapeutic program is a potential treatment for a prototypical B cell-mediated autoimmune disease, mucosal pemphigus vulgaris (mPV), which is a rare skin disorder that causes painful blisters and sores on mucous membranes leading to severe and sometimes debilitating and life-altering effects. An IND submission is planned for 2H19. For more information, visit www.cabalettabio.com.
Contacts:
Steven Nichtberger, M.D.
Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
investors@cabalettabio.com
Media:
Nancie Steinberg
212-213-0006, ext. 318
nsteinberg@burnsmc.com
Robert Flamm, Ph.D.
212-213-0006, ext. 364
rflamm@burnsmc.com
Investors:
Bill Slattery, Jr.
212-213-0006, ext. 351
bslattery@burnsmc.com