– Appointment adds oncology and cell therapy clinical development expertise to Board as Company continues late-stage development of its lead CAR T-cell therapy candidate, firi-cel (CRG-022) –
SAN MATEO, Calif., April 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CARGO Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRGX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company positioned to advance next generation, potentially curative cell therapies for cancer patients, today announced it has appointed Kapil Dhingra, M.B.B.S., to the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Dhingra is a medical oncologist and a physician-scientist bringing more than 25 years of strategic clinical development experience in oncology, including cell therapy, with a proven track record in drug development, patient care and academic research.
Dr. Dhingra's development experience spans several oncology companies, both as a Board member or in senior leadership. He is currently Chairman of the Board for LAVA Therapeutics, a member of the Board of Supervisors for Servier and a member of the Board of Directors of Black Diamond Therapeutics, Inc., Replimune, Inc., and Median Technologies. He previously served on the Board of Autolus Therapeutics plc from the company's inception until the recent Biologics License Application (BLA) filing of its CAR T-cell therapy.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Dhingra to our Board," said Gina Chapman, President and Chief Executive Officer, CARGO Therapeutics. "As a veteran clinical oncology leader with demonstrated experience in cell therapy development and expertise in bringing new therapeutics through the clinic to commercialization, his guidance will prove especially valuable as we advance our lead candidate firi-cel and a pipeline of next generation, potentially curative CAR T-cell therapies."
"CARGO has already made tremendous clinical progress with their differentiated anti-CD22 approach and rapidly enrolling Phase 2 clinical trial in relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma," said Kapil Dhingra, M.B.B.S., member of the Board of Directors, CARGO Therapeutics. "I look forward to contributing to CARGO's continued success as we prioritize developing firi-cel and an exciting pipeline with potential to expand to other B-cell malignancies."
In 2008, Dr. Dhingra founded and continues to be a managing member of KAPital Consulting, LLC, a healthcare consulting firm providing strategic advisory services to biotechnology companies. Previously he served as Head of the Oncology Disease Biology Leadership Team and Head of Oncology Clinical Development at The Roche Group (Roche), during which he led numerous drug approvals. Prior to joining Roche, he worked in the oncology clinical development group at Eli Lilly and Company.
Dr. Dhingra has also served as a faculty member at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Indiana University School of Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
