SAN DIEGO– Ambrx Biopharma, Inc., or Ambrx (NYSE: AMAM), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company using its proprietary Engineered Precision Biologics (EPBs) platform to create antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), has appointed Sandra Aung, Ph.D., as Executive Vice President, Head of Clinical Development. Dr. Aung will assume all clinical development leadership responsibilities of Ambrx’s proprietary pipeline of several ADC product candidates.
Dr. Aung brings over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry having led oncology-focused clinical development teams and projects in companies of different sizes. Dr. Aung has a versatile background in autoimmunity, immune-oncology, and infectious disease and has authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications and received multiple Small Business Innovate Research (SBIR) grants from the National Cancer Institute/ National Institutes of Health (IH/NCI) for her work in immune-oncology drug development. Dr. Aung helped lead Nektar Therapeutics’ lead clinical compound, pegylated interleukin-2 (IL-2) (bempeg), from First-In-Human studies to multiple Phase 3 registrational trials in less than 3 years. Dr. Aung’s cross industry and academic relationships with KOLs and more importantly expertise with high dose IL-2 (Proleukin®) were instrumental for this success. Dr. Aung’s extensive immuno-oncology drug development experience additionally comes from previous research and leadership positions she held at UbiVac, Inc. and Cell Genesys, Inc. Dr. Aung earned her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Vanderbilt University and performed her post-doctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute.
“The addition of Sandra comes at a pivotal moment as we seek to demonstrate the superiority of our proprietary ADC conjugation technology and improved safety and efficacy in multiple clinical trials,” said Daniel O’Connor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ambrx. “Sandra’s extensive scientific and clinical experience in successfully advancing cancer treatments, together with her strong relationships with clinical investigators and key opinion leaders in oncology makes her the ideal executive to lead our clinical development programs. We are extremely excited to welcome her to the leadership team at this important time for our Company.”
