CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--X4 Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel CXCR4 inhibitor drugs to improve immune cell trafficking and increase the ability for T-cells to track and destroy cancer, today announced the appointment of Nancy Lurker as the Chair of the Company’s Board of Directors. Ms. Lurker is an accomplished biopharmaceutical industry leader with more than 25 years of strategic, management and operational experience across all aspects of drug development and commercialization.
"We are so pleased to have Nancy join X4 Pharmaceuticals to lead our Board of Directors at such an integral point in the company’s history,” said Paula Ragan, PhD, Founder, President and CEO of X4. “As we embark on our next stage of growth, Nancy brings a wealth of Board experience, as well as strategic and operational experience in commercializing products and building valuable companies. I look forward to working closely with Nancy to further grow X4 and accelerate the development of our clinical stage programs in immuno-oncology and in rare diseases.”
Ms. Lurker joins the existing members of the Board of Directors of X4 that includes Alan Walts, PhD, Founder of X4 and Venture Partner at Advent Venture Partners, Michael Gilman, PhD, Founder of X4 and Advisor at Atlas Ventures, Isaac Blech, biotechnology entrepreneur, and Dr. Ragan.
"Paula and the team at X4 have made exceptional progress in the first year of operations having launched multiple clinical-stage programs," said Ms. Lurker. “I look forward to working with Paula and the leadership team to deliver important medicines to patients while continuing to build a meaningful company.”
Ms. Nancy Lurker is an experienced industry executive who has a wide-ranging background in leadership roles at a diverse range of healthcare companies and is currently a Director on the Cancer Treatment Centers of America’s Board of Directors and a member of the Novo Advisory Group. Over the past decade, she has served on the Board of Directors of several public companies including Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals and Elan Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Lurker is currently President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of pSivida Corporation, a leading provider of miniaturized, sustained-release drug delivery products focused on the eye. Prior to pSivida, she was President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director for PDI, a leading commercial services company to the biopharmaceutical industry. In this position, Ms. Lurker led PDI through significant growth in the industry and ultimately executing a sale of PDI’s core business. Earlier in her career Ms. Lurker served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (the U.S. subsidiary of Novartis AG) where she managed a product portfolio that included multiple therapeutic areas representing billions of dollars in annual sales. She also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ImpactRx, Group Vice President-Global Primary Care Products for Pharmacia Corporation, and as a member of Pharmacia’s U.S. Executive Management Committee. Ms. Lurker received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology magna cum laude from Seattle Pacific University, and earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Evansville.
About X4 Pharmaceuticals
X4 Pharmaceuticals is developing
novel therapeutics designed to improve immune cell trafficking to treat
cancer and rare diseases. The Company’s oral small molecule drug
candidates inhibit the CXCR4 receptor, a pathway which plays a central
role in immune surveillance. X4P-001, the Company’s lead program, is in
Phase 1/2 testing in refractory clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)
and other solid tumor indications. The Company’s second program,
X4P-002, is in pre-clinical development for oncology applications. X4
was founded and is led by a team with deep product development and
commercialization expertise, including several former members of the
Genzyme leadership team, and is located in Cambridge, MA.
