CAMBRIDGE, Mass.– Parthenon Therapeutics, a biotech company inventing a novel class of anti-cancer therapies that reprogram the tumor microenvironment, today announced the appointment of Tamas Oravecz, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer.
“We are delighted to welcome Tamas to the Parthenon team as we continue to advance our pipeline development efforts,” said Laurent Audoly, Ph.D., co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Parthenon Therapeutics. “Tamas is a world-class R&D leader with deep expertise in tumor biology and a demonstrated track record recognizing and selecting clinically viable therapeutic approaches. We look forward to his significant contributions at Parthenon and the positive impact of his efforts for people living with difficult-to-treat cancers.”
Dr. Oravecz brings nearly three decades of biotech and pharma R&D leadership experience to his role at Parthenon. His experience includes developing a broad range of therapeutic modalities including small molecules, antibody, and cell therapy platforms and other biotherapeutic approaches, as well as leading and directing drug development programs from research to investigational new drug (IND) applications, including two drug approvals.
“I’m excited to join this collaborative and experienced team that is applying rigorous science to break new ground in cancer therapy,” said Dr. Oravecz. “Deciphering the important interplay between cancer cells and their surrounding environment is an exciting new area of cancer therapeutics. I look forward to leading Parthenon’s R&D efforts, and applying new biological insights to pioneer a new and important therapeutic class of medicines to fight cancer.”
Dr. Oravecz joins Parthenon from Janssen Biotherapeutics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, where most recently he served as Vice President, Head of Cell Therapy Platform and Discovery. During his tenure at Janssen, he led teams of more than 100 scientists across diverse scientific disciplines to advance new therapeutic candidates in diverse disease areas from discovery into early development and proof of concept studies in humans. Previously, Dr. Oravecz was Executive Director of Biology and Pharmacology at Celgene (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) where he was responsible for building a world-class discovery team and contributing to the advancement of several of Celgene’s small and large molecule programs. Dr. Oravecz’s earlier career included Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Vice President of Immunology and Oncology; Novartis Cell and Gene Therapy, where he served as Program Head, HIV Therapy; The National Institutes of Health/U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and The Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Oravecz received a M.S. degree in Molecular Biology and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Szeged, Hungary. He completed four fellowships including the Swiss Society for Immunology, the European Association of Immunologists, the British Council, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, and the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health. He is the inventor on eight patents and patent applications and has published nearly 50 research papers and book chapters.
