Business
Nkarta Appoints David R. Shook, MD, as Vice President, Clinical Development
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nkarta, Inc. (Nasdaq: NKTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered
About this update from Nkarta, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nkarta, Inc. (Nasdaq: NKTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies to treat cancer, today announced the appointment of David R. Shook, MD, as Vice President, Clinical Development. Dr. Shook is a practicing pediatric hematologist, oncologist, and transplanter, and an early pioneer of natural killer (NK) cell therapy. He currently directs Nkarta’s co-lead clinical programs, NKX101 and NKX019. In his expanded role, Dr. Shook will lead all clinical development and regulatory activities at Nkarta. Kanya Rajangam, MD, PhD, has resigned as Chief Medical Officer, effective June 5, 2022, and has accepted a position to oversee research and development activities at a private biotechnology company. “On behalf of Nkarta’s Board of Directors, I wish to thank Kanya for her many contributions to the company’s progress. Under her leadership, NKX101 and NKX019 reached crucial early development milestones and demonstrated preliminary evidence of anti-tumor activity in AML and NHL, respectively,” said Paul J. Hastings, President and CEO of Nkarta. “We are excited to welcome David, a seasoned and valued member of Nkarta’s clinical team, to his new position. This will be a seamless transition given David’s experience in leading the ongoing development of our co-lead programs, and his foundational work with Nkarta’s scientific founder, Dr. Dario Campana, on the engineering and enhancement of NK cells. We look forward to leveraging David’s considerable clinical expertise and understanding of Nkarta’s technology to advance our cell therapy candidates.” Nkarta’s clinical programs continue to progress. In April 2022, Nkarta reported preliminary single-agent proof of concept data for its independent co-lead clinical programs, NKX101 and NKX019. As previously announced, Nkarta is currently evaluating a higher-dose regimen of 1.5 billion x 3 doses of CAR NK cells in the dose escalation portion of the NKX101 and NKX019 Phase 1 clinical studies. Nkarta expects to submit updated data from these studies for presentation at a medical meeting this year. About David R. Shook, MD Dr. Shook has more than 10 years of clinical research and development experience. Prior to joining Nkarta in June 2020, he led multiple first-in-human cell therapy cl...