Aduro BioTech, Inc. Appoints Thomas Dubensky, Jr. as Chief Scientific Officer

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aduro BioTech, Inc. announced today its appointment of Thomas Dubensky, Jr., Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Dubensky is reuniting with the vaccine program that he helped to initiate in 2002, when he was Vice President of Research at Cerus Corporation. The vaccine program is based on Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria), which was selected as a vector for development of clinical vaccine candidates based on potency comparisons with several alternative vector platforms. First at Cerus and subsequently at Anza Therapeutics, Dr. Dubensky led the development of the live-attenuated double deleted Listeria (LADD) vaccine platform, which formed the basis for three distinct therapeutic vaccine candidates that were evaluated in three FDA-approved Phase 1 clinical trials.

“We’re extremely pleased to have Tom rejoin the program he started and expect his return to help take Aduro to the next level.”

“Tom is the original visionary of our platform technology and saw from the beginning the potential to build a portfolio of highly effective vaccines for a broad range of cancers and infectious diseases,” said Stephen Isaacs, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aduro. “We’re extremely pleased to have Tom rejoin the program he started and expect his return to help take Aduro to the next level.”

Dr. Dubensky joins Aduro from Immune Design Corporation, a biotechnology company based in Seattle, WA that is developing immune therapies based on proprietary molecularly defined adjuvants and dendritic cell targeting vaccine platforms, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer. Previously, Dr. Dubensky developed vaccine platforms based on adenoviruses, alphaviruses and retroviruses/lentiviruses in positions of increasing responsibility at Viagene, Chiron and Onyx Pharmaceuticals.

About Aduro BioTech

Aduro BioTech is a clinical-stage company that is advancing multiple therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases based on its proprietary attenuated Listeria monocytogenes-based vaccine platforms. The company recently announced a series B private equity financing in excess of $19 million for the clinical development of novel immunotherapies for cancers representing significant unmet medical need. The company's proprietary Listeria-based vaccine platforms have been validated by more than 20 major publications that illustrate the platform's unique combination of safety and potency, by multiple issued U.S. patents and by more than $20 million in federal and private grant and contract funding.