Trillium Therapeutics, a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer, announced the following key additions to its leadership team:
- Dr Blythe Thomson, Executive Medical Director
- Jane E. Cole, RN, Senior Director, Clinical Operations
- Brian E. Jahns, PharmD, Senior VP, Commercial and Business Development
The company also announced that Dr Eric Sievers, has transitioned from Chief Medical Officer to Senior Clinical Advisor. In this new role, Dr Sievers will maintain a close association with the company's clinical programmes and advisors, and continue to assist Trillium with clinical strategy and communications. The company is now initiating the process of identifying Dr Sievers' successor.
"These additions to our management team further bolsters our planned pipeline development activities," said Dr Niclas Stiernholm, President and CEO of Trillium Therapeutics.
"Our new team members bring diverse and deep drug development expertise, and will have a major impact on the advancement of our TTI-621 programme and corporate growth. Under Dr Sievers' guidance, our TTI-621 programme has been well positioned for advancement in 2018. We look forward to continued benefit from Dr Sievers' expertise in his new role."
Dr Thomson, a board certified pediatric hematologist/oncologist, has held multiple academic and industry appointments, most recently at Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Epizyme and Medpace. She brings a great depth of experience in all phases of clinical development of therapies for solid tumors and hematologic malignancies and will oversee Trillium's development programmes, ensuring they are optimised for adaptability and efficiency.
Dr Thomson completed her medical training at Ohio State University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington, and currently serves as an attending physician at Floating Hospital for Children, Tufts University School of Medicine.
Cole brings to Trillium more than 25 years of experience, leadership and capability in the global execution of drug development programmes. A registered nurse who pursued a career in drug development, Cole has led numerous development teams in executing Phase I through Phase IV clinical trials globally.
She has previously held clinical operation roles in multinational pharma companies, including Hoffmann-La Roche, as well as in smaller biotechnology and contract research organisations. In her current role she will oversee the company's clinical operations team as well as its relationships with clinical research organisations. Cole joins Trillium from Chiltern International, where she was Project Director, Global Executive Lead.
Dr Jahns has a wealth of experience in commercial activities, including long-term planning, strategic marketing and working in an international matrix environment with partners in the US, Canada and Europe.
Drawing on his experiences as a pharmacist and an academic, and 18 years at Hoffmann-La Roche, he has been involved in the success of products such as Rituxan, Avastin, Zelboraf and Herceptin.
Dr Jahns will focus on developing partnership opportunities between Trillium and potential collaborators, and providing input on the company's commercialisation activities.
