Beyond Cancer Announces Sponsored Research Agreement with Stanford and Appointment of Frederick M. Dirbas, MD and Mark D. Pegram, MD to Scientific Advisory Board
Beyond Cancer, Ltd., an affiliate of Beyond Air, Inc. (NASDAQ: XAIR) that is developing ultra-high concentration nitric oxide (UNO) as an immunotherapeutic for solid tumors, announces entry into a sponsored research agreement with Stanford School of Medicine and the appointment of Frederick M. Dirbas, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, Stanford School of Medicine and Mark D. Pegram, MD, the Suzy Yuan-Huey Hung Endowed Professor of Medical Oncology at the Stanford School of Medicine to the Beyond Cancer Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). In addition to the research agreement, Dr. Dirbas will serve as Chair of the SAB, which provides guidance for ongoing preclinical studies as well as ongoing and planned future clinical trials in the use of UNO to treat solid tumors. The newly appointed members of the SAB will work to provide input on the clinical development of Beyond Cancer’s UNO technology particularly as it relates to the U.S. regulatory submission. The Company expects the protocols for its clinical program to be influenced by the preclinical data and the Phase 1 clinical trial experience.
“I am excited to have these two accomplished oncologists join the Beyond Cancer Scientific Advisory Board,” stated Dr. Selena Chaisson, Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Cancer. “The goal of the SAB will be to provide us with the best possible resources from experts around the world. Their input will help determine whether UNO may provide a superior efficacy and/or safety profile than current treatment options. We have high expectations for UNO as a potential new paradigm for treating patients with cancer.”
These two expert academic clinicians have made important discoveries throughout their careers that have had outsized impacts on cancer care. As an investigator, Dr. Dirbas in 2002 was an early adopter of accelerated, partial breast irradiation for surgical patients with early-stage breast cancer and served as Primary Investigator (PI) on Stanford’s successful investigator initiated APBI trial: he has also served as site-PI for other cooperative group trials related to breast cancer. From 2010 to 2017 he was the leader of Stanford Cancer Center’s Breast Clinical Care Program during which time the program grew considerably in national recognition. For the last two decades, Dr. Dirbas has served as a co-investigator studying subtypes of breast cancer stem cells in triple negative breast cancer. Currently, he is the PI on studies in the application of FLASH radiotherapy in breast cancer (recently presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium).
Dr. Pegram played a significant role in the pre-clinical and clinical development of trastuzumab (Herceptin®) for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. He was lead author on the papers describing pre-clinical synergy between multiple chemotherapeutics and trastuzumab, and the first phase II clinical trial of trastuzumab plus chemotherapy. In addition, he was the senior author of the pivotal trial of letrozole plus lapatinib – leading to an FDA approval. In addition, Dr. Pegram was the co-author of the pivotal trials of trastuzumab plus chemotherapy, and T-DM1, both published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and lead to FDA approvals.
“I am pleased to be appointed Chair of the Beyond Cancer Scientific Advisory Board,” said Dr. Dirbas. “Dr. Pegram and I look forward to providing guidance to the team at Beyond Cancer on their preclinical and clinical studies as they work to translate UNO into a potential treatment option for patients with solid tumors.”