DURHAM, N.C., Sept. 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Precision BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTIL), a genome editing company dedicated to improving life through the application of its pioneering, proprietary ARCUS® platform, announced today that David Thomson, PhD, has been appointed to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Thomson has served as Precision’s Chief Development Officer since 2017.
“David has made a dramatic impact since joining Precision over two years ago, and I am delighted that he is taking on these new responsibilities at a critical time when we believe our pace of growth is accelerating, and our CAR T cancer immunotherapy, in vivo gene correction and food portfolios are progressing at pace,” commented Matt Kane, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Precision BioSciences. “Under David’s leadership as Chief Development Officer, we have achieved numerous significant milestones, including successfully advancing our first off-the-shelf CAR T therapy candidate PBCAR0191 into the clinic and receiving FDA clearance to begin clinical trials with our second, PBCAR20A. He has been central to the ongoing momentum in our preclinical activities in both CAR T and in vivo gene correction and was instrumental to Precision opening the Manufacturing Center for Advanced Therapeutics (MCAT) earlier this year, believed to be the first in-house cGMP compliant manufacturing facility dedicated to genome edited, off-the-shelf CAR T cell therapy product candidates in the United States. We expect this pace of progress to only accelerate – as Chief Operating Officer, David will spearhead operational excellence across all of Precision’s activities and ensure that, even as our portfolio expands, we continue to deliver on the enormous potential of our unique programs to address the core challenges of human health.”
“As Chief Development Officer, I have had the privilege of leading a team that has translated the potential of our innovative ARCUS® editing platform into preclinical success, and delivered therapeutic candidates into the clinic that have truly life-changing potential for patients,” commented Dr. Thomson. “Precision is entering a new and tremendously exciting period of growth, and we expect to soon have multiple allogeneic CAR T therapy candidates in ongoing clinical trials, an accelerating portfolio of in vivo gene correction programs, and growing momentum at our Elo Life Systems food-focused subsidiary. I am honored to become Precision’s Chief Operating Officer and look forward to applying my operational leadership experience to advance Precision’s unique and innovative therapeutic and food product candidates through development and into commercialization.”
In his role as Chief Development Officer, Dr. Thomson has been responsible for shaping and executing Precision’s preclinical, clinical and manufacturing strategy. He successfully led preclinical development, manufacturing process optimization and investigational new drug (IND) application approvals for Precision’s first two allogeneic CAR T therapy candidates, PCAR0191 and PBCAR20A, oversaw dosing of the first patient in the company’s first clinical trial, led the opening of MCAT, and advanced multiple preclinical programs. Prior to joining Precision, Dr. Thomson most recently served as Senior Vice President, Research and Nonclinical Development for Shire Plc (Shire), where he was responsible for the strategy and operational direction of the Global Research and Nonclinical Development Organization, including transitioning programs from research into clinical development and supporting programs through commercialization. Earlier in his career he served as Senior Vice President and Global Head, Research and Development Operations for Shire. He received a BSc in chemistry from the University of Strathclyde, a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Toronto and completed post-doctoral work at Yale University.
About Precision BioSciences
Precision BioSciences is dedicated to improving life (DTIL) through its proprietary genome editing platform, “ARCUS®.” Precision leverages ARCUS® in the development of its product candidates, which are designed to treat human diseases and create healthy and sustainable food and agriculture solutions. Precision is actively developing product candidates in three innovative areas: allogeneic CAR T immunotherapy, in vivo gene correction, and food. For more information regarding Precision, please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com.
