Volastra Therapeutics Announces Appointment of David P. Southwell as Chief Executive Officer
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Volastra Therapeutics, a clinical-stage cancer biotechnology company, today announced the appointment of David P. Southwell as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Southwell brings over 30 years of C-level executive biotechnology experience to Volastra as the company continues to advance its pipeline, which is led by two novel clinical stage KIF18A inhibitors.
'We are delighted to welcome David to Volastra,' said Sandi Peterson, Chair of Volastra's Board of Directors. 'David's deep biotech leadership experience and proven track record make him the ideal CEO to lead Volastra through this exciting period of growth.'
'Volastra has pioneered novel therapeutic approaches in the emerging field of chromosomal instability, which is central to the progression of many cancers,' said David Southwell. 'With exciting early clinical data and a world-class team of management and investors, Volastra is well-positioned to be a leader in oncologic therapies.'
Mr. Southwell has built a strong foundation of financial, operational and strategic expertise throughout his career leading innovative biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of TScan Therapeutics, an immune-oncology company advancing T-cell receptor-based therapies. Prior to that, he was President, Chief Executive Officer, and Board member of Inotek Pharmaceuticals, guiding the company through its merger with Rocket Pharmaceuticals in early 2018. Mr. Southwell also held senior executive roles as CFO at Human Genome Sciences through its acquisition by GlaxoSmithKline, and at Sepracor Inc., where he served as Executive Vice President and CFO for over a decade. He has served on the Boards of several public and private life sciences companies and currently serves on the Boards of PTC Therapeutics and Rocket Pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Southwell succeeds Charles Hugh-Jones, who has led Volastra Therapeutics from its inception as CEO. The Board greatly appreciates Charles' leadership, vision and substantial contributions to the Company's success over the past 5 years. He will continue as an advisor to the Company.
Separately, Volastra will be presenting dose escalation data from its first-in-human VLS-1488 trial in an oral presentation on June 2 nd at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting.
About Volastra Therapeutics
Volastra Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering novel approaches to the treatment of cancer by targeting chromosomal instability. The company leads the field with two differentiated, oral KIF18A inhibitors, VLS-1488 and sovilnesib (formerly AMG-650). Both assets are currently being evaluated in Phase 1 clinical trials for platinum resistant ovarian cancer and other advanced solid tumors. Volastra is also developing new techniques to understand the biology of chromosomal instability and leveraging these insights to drive forward a preclinical pipeline of therapies against innovative targets. Volastra was founded in 2019 by Lewis Cantley, Ph.D., Samuel Bakhoum, M.D., Ph.D., and Olivier Elemento, Ph.D., and is funded by key investors including Polaris Partners, ARCH Ventures, B-Capital, Droia Ventures, Vida Ventures, Catalio Capital Management and Eli Lilly & Company. Notable partners include Tailor Bio and Microsoft.
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