NEW YORK– AnHeart Therapeutics (“AnHeart”), a clinical-stage global biopharmaceutical company committed to developing novel precision oncology therapeutics, today announced the appointments of Heinrich Farin, M.D. as Senior Medical Director, Clinical Research and Michael J. Humphries, Ph.D., as VP, Head of US Medical Affairs. Their onboarding will further strengthen the clinical development capability under Dr. Shuanglian (Lian) Li’s leadership who was recently appointed as Chief Medical Officer, US.
“We’re delighted to welcome Drs. Farin and Humphries to AnHeart Therapeutics. Both Heinrich and Michael, seasoned leaders in drug development and with proven track records of success, will bring invaluable experience/expertise to our growing clinical development team,” said Junyuan (Jerry) Wang, Ph.D. CEO & Co-Founder, AnHeart Therapeutics. “Both Heinrich and Michael previously worked with Dr. Li in the development of targeted therapy including mobocertinib, a first-in-class EGFR inhibitor that targeted EGFR exon 20 insertions and expanding the global development of ponatinib, a novel multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor.”
Heinrich Farin, M.D., brings to AnHeart more than 20 years of experience in clinical development, directing complex global Phase I-IV clinical trials, including first-in-human through global studies, focusing on therapies in rare diseases. Prior to joining AnHeart, he led global development of anti-cancer therapies in solid tumors and leukemia as Senior Medical Director, at Mirati Therapeutics and Global Senior Medical Director, Clinical Research and Development at BeiGene, specifically PARP inhibitors in global late phase development. At ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Takeda as of Feb 2017), he was Global Medical Director, Clinical Research and Development and Pharmacovigilance/Safety. Earlier, he headed the clinical development and global approval of several anti-hemophilia therapies at Baxalta and approvals for cancer diagnostics. He has an M.D. from the University of Vienna, Austria, and degrees in Chemistry and Physiology from the University of California, San Diego. He is also a published author on several peer-reviewed publications.
Michael J. Humphries, Ph.D., is an accomplished medical affairs professional with experience in pre-and-post launch medical activities, strategic planning and execution, evidence generation, and drug discovery. He brings expertise in precision medicine and small molecule therapeutic development in oncology. He was most recently head of lung cancer, senior scientific director of global medical affairs at Takeda Oncology, where he led the lung cancer portfolio for brigatinib and mobocertinib. He also held roles as an oncology medical science liaison at Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and as a research scientist at Array Biopharma. He has a Ph.D. in Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado Denver, Health Sciences Center, Department of Craniofacial Biology and a B.A. in Biology from Western State College of Colorado.
“I am excited to join AnHeart at this dynamic time. The company is developing multiple cancer therapies including its leading asset taletrectinib targeting ROS1-fusion and resistant mutations, and other gene mutations in other cancers. I look forward to contributing to AnHeart’s mission to improve the lives of cancer patients with breakthrough medicines and advancing global clinical programs,” said Dr. Farin.
“It is great to work with both Dr. Li and Dr. Farin again, as we previously worked together while at Ariad Pharmaceuticals,” said Humphries. “Taletrectinib is a next-generation ROS-1 inhibitor that is a much-needed innovative therapy for patients with this subtype of non-small cell lung cancer. I look forward to working with the management and scientific teams to help bring this much needed therapy to cancer patients.”
