CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Syros Pharmaceuticals today announced that David A. Roth, M.D., an industry leader in oncology and hematology drug development, joined the Company as its first Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Roth will provide strategic and operational leadership for all the Company’s clinical development activities and functions.
“Syros is rapidly advancing on our goal of becoming a development-stage company, with plans to initiate a Phase 2 study with our lead program and a Phase 1/2 study with our second program,” said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Syros’ Chief Executive Officer. “We believe that David’s experience bringing innovative drugs from early clinical development through regulatory approval, his expertise in cancer and deep commitment to patients will be tremendous assets as we advance our mission of delivering gene control medicines to patients that provide a profound and durable clinical benefit. David further strengthens our team of drug discovery and development talent, and I’m thrilled to have him on board.”
Dr. Roth brings more than 20 years of experience in industry and academic clinical research with a strong track record of successful oncology and hematology drug development. He served most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Infinity Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw clinical development and development operations, as well as medical affairs and safety & risk management. Before joining Infinity in 2013, he served as interim Co-head of Clinical Development and Vice President of Early Development in Pfizer’s Oncology Business Unit. Dr. Roth joined Pfizer from Wyeth, where he held the roles of increasing responsibility, including Assistant Vice President of Clinical Research & Development and Global Therapeutic Area Director of Hematology. While at Pfizer and Wyeth, Dr. Roth contributed to the successful regulatory approval of several products, including Bosulif® (bosutinib), a dual Src/Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, Xyntha® and ReFacto AF® for the treatment of hemophilia A, and BeneFIX® for the treatment of hemophilia B. Dr. Roth also led the early development of Ibrance® (palbociclib), a CDK 4/6 inhibitor, which was awarded breakthrough status and subsequently received accelerated approval as a treatment for ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer on a Phase 2 study. In addition to his extensive industry experience, Dr. Roth is an accomplished academic researcher and physician-scientist and was on the full-time faculty at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the Division of Hematology/Oncology. He completed his fellowship in hematology and oncology at Tufts-New England Medical Center and his Internal Medicine residency at the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston. Dr. Roth received his B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in the Harvard-M.I.T. Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
“I joined Syros because I see a tremendous opportunity to work with a team that is pioneering in its approach to drug discovery and development,” said Dr. Roth. “I’m excited to be part of a company focused on first-in-class gene control medicines that have the potential to make a profound difference for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers and other diseases.”
About Syros Pharmaceuticals
Syros Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company applying a pioneering approach to discover and develop medicines that control the expression of genes with the aim of treating cancer and other serious diseases. Syros has built a proprietary gene control platform that provides the Company with a unique lens to identify crucial genes that become dysregulated in diseased cells. Syros is leveraging its platform to develop a pipeline of gene control product candidates that it believes will provide a profound and durable benefit for patients. The Company’s scientific founders are world-class leaders in gene control research and translation. Launched by Flagship Ventures and ARCH Venture Partners, Syros Pharmaceuticals is located in Cambridge, Mass.
