SIRPant Immunotherapeutics Strengthens Board of Directors with Appointment of Roger Sawhney, M.D.

HUMMELSTOWN, Pa., Jan. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SIRPant Immunotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focusing on developing next-generation macrophage-based immunotherapies for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors, today announced the appointment of Roger Sawhney, M.D. to its Board of Directors. Dr. Sawhney brings nearly 30 years of financial and strategic expertise spanning the biopharma industry.

“We are thrilled to welcome Roger to our team. He is a seasoned veteran that brings a wealth of industry experience ranging from corporate strategy in the biopharma industry to healthcare investing. His expertise in cell therapy will be particularly valuable to SIRPant as we advance SIRPant-M™, our lead product candidate, into clinical development,” said Robert Towarnicki, President & CEO of SIRPant. “Roger adds a broad skill set to our Board and we look forward to benefitting from his strategic insight.”

“It’s an exciting and transformational time to be joining SIRPant, with two Investigational New Drug (IND) applications cleared in 2023 for SIRPant-M,” said Dr. Sawhney. “I look forward to collaborating with SIRPant to leverage its strengths as it looks to demonstrate the broad therapeutic potential of its next-generation macrophage-based immunotherapies.”

Dr. Sawhney most recently served as the Chief Financial Officer of Garuda Therapeutics, Inc. From May 2020 to May 2022, Dr. Sawhney served as the Chief Financial Officer of Omega Therapeutics, Inc., a pioneer in mRNA-based therapeutics for precision gene modulation, and he served as the Chief Business Officer of Omega from May 2022 to September 2022.

From September 2018 to February 2020, Dr. Sawhney served at KKR & Co. Inc., a global investment firm, as Director of its healthcare investment platform in the Americas where his work focused on investments across private and growth equity in the healthcare sector. From August 2009 to August 2012, Dr. Sawhney served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Corporate Strategy for Novartis AG, as well as Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development for Outcome Health from February 2017 to February 2018. Dr. Sawhney has also served as Partner with Bain & Company from August 2012 to February 2017 and the Boston Consulting Group from 1996 to 2009, where he managed numerous client engagements across the life sciences, med-tech and digital health sectors.

Dr. Sawhney holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a BA in Economics from Stanford University.

About SIRPant Immunotherapeutics, Inc.

SIRPant Immunotherapeutics Inc is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company specializing in the development of next-generation macrophage-based immunotherapies for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. The cell therapy technology SIRPant employs is based on the reduction of SIRPα expression combined with activation of the patient’s own macrophages. This population of SIRPαlow activated macrophages are designed to attack the tumor following injection by activating the patient’s immune system to produce broad spectrum anti-tumor activity that utilizes patient T-cells and antibodies targeting cancer neoantigens. Because SIRPant does not genetically engineer its cell therapies, the company believes its product candidates will be easier and less expensive to manufacture, with reduced toxicities, compared to current engineered cell therapies in the clinic, and may provide patients with meaningful clinical benefit. As a result, SIRPant-MTM has a compelling product profile when compared to current gene-modified cell therapies. For more information, please visit www.sirpantimmunotx.com. 

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” concerning the development of SIRPant Immunotherapeutics products, the potential benefits and attributes of those products, and the company’s expectations regarding its prospects. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results may vary. SIRPant Immunotherapeutics undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason.

Investor Contact:

Matthew Guido
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
matthew.guido@sternir.com

Media Contact:

Robert Towarnicki
President & CEO
(610) 321-3111 Ext 700
rtowarnicki@sirpantimmunotx.com