Tak takes the reins at Candel after a stint at Flagship Pioneering, where he was a venture partner, and Kintai Therapeutics—a Flagship company focused on precision enteric medicines—where he was CEO. Tak previously served as CEO of Tempero Pharmaceuticals, which he brought into GlaxoSmithKline. There, Tak was chief immunology officer and global R&D head for immuno-inflammation, infectious disease and oncology. He joins as Candel, previously known as Advantagene, gears up for a busy year. In 2021, the company plans to start a phase 3 study for its glioblastoma program and “try to accelerate the timeline” of its pancreatic cancer program. It also expects readouts from two phase 1 studies in glioblastoma and a phase 2 study in non-small cell lung cancer. Fierce Biotech
Flagship Pioneering portfolio company Kintai Therapeutics said it is moving its anti-obesity drug candidate KTX-0200 into IND-enabling studies after rodent studies returned positive results. In diet-induced obesity rodent models, KTX-0200 induced sustained weight loss of 14%. What’s more, treatment with the drug led to improved blood sugar tolerance as shown in a 12% improvement in glucose clearance. It also increased insulin sensitivity with a 14.5% improvement based on a glucose clearance test, Kintai said.
Flagship Pioneering is launching Kintai Therapeutics with Dr. Paul-Peter Tak, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, at the helm. Tak signs on as the startup steers a pipeline of what it calls “precision enteric medicines” toward the clinic, with the first programs slated to enter phase 1 as early as next year.