Palleon Pharmaceuticals Appoints Li Peng, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer
WALTHAM, Mass., February 12, 2020 – Palleon Pharmaceuticals, a leading biotech company developing drugs that target the Siglec-Sialoglycan axis to treat cancer, today announced that Li Peng, Ph.D., has been promoted to Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Peng, who has been integral to the development of Palleon’s platform technologies and has overseen the building of its world-class R&D operations, will be the company’s first CSO.
“Li’s imprint on Palleon has been visible since day one. Under her leadership we have developed our proprietary platforms targeting the Siglec-Sialoglycan axis of immune suppression and assembled a robust pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics advancing toward the clinic,” said Jim Broderick, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Palleon. “We are thrilled to have Li leading our scientific team and setting the strategic direction for our ongoing growth.”
Dr. Peng most recently served as Palleon’s Senior Vice President of Research and Early Product Development. In this role, she succeeded in leading the research and development team to define and execute R&D strategy for building Palleon’s innovative immunology drug portfolio, as well as supporting business development and fundraising. Prior to joining Palleon, Dr. Peng spent nearly 10 years at Medimmune/AstraZeneca in roles of increasing responsibility. She has authored numerous scientific papers and is named as an inventor on many patents and patent applications. Dr. Peng holds a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California, Davis.
“I’m very excited about the future of Palleon’s pioneering immuno-oncology technologies targeting the Siglec-Sialoglycan axis, and I’m proud of the stellar research and development organization that we’ve built to date,” said Dr. Peng. “As CSO, I look forward to continuing to shape our work, leveraging these technologies to create therapies that bring real benefits to patients.”
About Palleon Pharmaceuticals
Palleon Pharmaceuticals is the leading biotechnology company developing drugs that target the Siglec-Sialoglycan axis of immune suppression to treat cancer and other diseases characterized by immune system dysfunction. The company’s proprietary EAGLE, CONVERGENCE, and HYDRA platforms integrate technologies and insights from world-renowned scientific leaders in the glyco-immunology field to create a novel approach to treating cancer. By enabling an anti-cancer response from multiple immune cell types, inhibiting glyco-immune checkpoints will tackle resistance to existing immuno-oncology agents and make possible a wider range of rational combination therapies to treat cancer. Palleon has several cancer drug discovery programs underway. Beyond oncology, other important areas where glyco-immune checkpoints may play a role include inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, neurodegenerative disease, and chronic viral infections. The company is advancing its pipeline and development programs with a $47.6 million Series A financing from leading biotech venture investors SR One, Pfizer Ventures, Vertex Ventures HC, Takeda Ventures, and AbbVie Ventures. Learn more at www.palleonpharma.com.
Palleon Media Contact
Lisa Raffensperger
Ten Bridge Communications
lisa@tenbridgecommunications.com
617-903-8783