SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Batu Biologics, an immuno-oncology company based out of San Diego dedicated to the development of its polyvalent tumor endothelium vaccine, ValloVax, announced today the appointment of Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD, FANA to its scientific advisory board. Batu Biologics has recently filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA seeking to initiate a Phase I dose-escalation study for ValloVax in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
“The wealth of knowledge that Dr. Kesari brings to the table regarding the clinical development of therapeutics for glioblastoma will make him a valuable asset to the company. Demonstrating clinical efficacy in multiple solid tumor indications will be a huge breakthrough for the ValloVax platform,” said Samuel C. Wagner, president and CEO of Batu Biologics.
Dr. Kesari is a professor of neurosciences at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, as well as the director of neuro-oncology at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. Dr. Kesari has a long-standing interest in neural development, cancer stem cells and cutting edge therapeutics for patients with brain or neurologic tumors. He currently acts as head of the Translational Neuro-Oncology Laboratories, which seeks to integrate clinical, preclinical and basic science to improve the understanding of brain tumor biology. As a physician, Dr. Kesari strives to provide compassionate and state-of-the-art clinical care for patients with primary and metastatic brain cancers.
Batu Biologics plans to work closely with Dr. Kesari to evaluate the efficacy of ValloVax in several preclinical brain tumor models, with the intent of filing a second IND application seeking FDA clearance to initiate clinical trials for patients with recurrent glioblastoma.
“Batu’s innovative technology combines two powerful, validated approaches in one: angiogenesis inhibition and immunotherapy- both individually show activity in various human cancers,” Dr. Santosh Kesari said. “Batu’s therapy has already demonstrated efficacy in melanoma, breast and lung cancer preclinical models. We look forward to testing and optimizing this therapy in our patient-derived glioblastoma xenograft models and to quickly move it forward into human clinical trials."
