GREENVILLE, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KIYATEC, Inc., a privately held company changing the future of cancer care by predicting patient response to oncology drugs prior to treatment, today announced an expansion of its leadership team with the appointment of two industry veterans. Charlene Knape has joined the company as Vice President of Clinical Affairs, and Timothy Decker as Vice President Commercial Operations.
Mr. Decker, a twenty year industry leader with a proven track record of developing and commercializing oncology diagnostic services and pharmaceuticals, has assumed responsibility for pre-launch commercial strategic development along with tactical planning and execution to drive clinical product launches. Mr. Decker held roles of increasing responsibility in strategic and tactical marketing for a decade at G.D. Searle and Abbott Laboratories before joining Genomic Health, Inc. Over an eight year span, he played a lead role as Director and Senior Director in the global launch, marketing, reimbursement and sales of Oncotype DX molecular diagnostic tests in breast, colon and prostate cancers. Mr. Decker subsequently served as Vice President of Marketing at Castle Biosciences, Inc., where he drove corporate and pipeline strategy, as well as in-line product strategy and revenue growth for its molecular diagnostic tests in melanoma. He joins the company from Mexico City-based Grupo Fármacos Especializados, where he served as Division Head, Oncology Diagnostics, responsible for developing reimbursement pathways and securing positive coverage decisions among public and private sector payers.
With more than 25 years of experience working with diagnostic companies, Ms. Knape is responsible for leading the clinical development programs and clinical operations for KIYATEC’s pipeline for ovarian cancer, glioblastoma, rare tumors and triple negative breast cancer. She most recently served as Senior Director, Clinical Development for Inivata, a clinical cancer genomics company utilizing liquid biopsies for comprehensive genomic profiling of tumors. Prior to this, Ms. Knape served in Becton Dickinson’s Corporate Clinical Development group, responsible for global clinical quality and contracts. Ms. Knape spent five years with Micell Technologies as Senior Director of Clinical Affairs where she managed all global clinical activities for first-in-human and CE Marking studies for an implantable cardiovascular device from initiation through successful regulatory submission. As the company’s lead in clinical operations, Ms. Knape also built the team and initiated a 1,400-patient study in Europe and a 400-patient study in China. Previously, Ms. Knape served as Vice President, Clinical Affairs at EndoTex Interventional Systems, led the clinical functions for Avocet Medical and Somnus Medical Technologies and held clinical affairs positions in the Companion Diagnostics and Biorepository at LabCorp.
“At this pivotal time in the company’s growth, we are thrilled to welcome Charlene and Tim to KIYATEC. These two newly created positions are critical as we expand our clinical programs in key therapeutic areas and further strengthen our plan for the broad adoption of our patient-specific response prediction tests,” said Dr. Matthew Gevaert, CEO of KIYATEC. “Their expertise and industry knowledge is unparalleled and they will be instrumental as KIYATEC continues toward its path of changing the future of cancer care by predicting patient response to chemotherapy before treatment begins. I’m so glad to have Tim and Charlene on our team as we move toward our goal of commercialization and helping patients receive optimal treatment at the earliest possible time.”
KIYATEC will be attending the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting being held June 1-5 in Chicago.
About KIYATEC, Inc.
KIYATEC is changing the future of cancer care by accurately predicting patient-specific response and non-response to chemotherapy drugs before treatment begins. Wasted time is the enemy of cancer patients and there is currently no way to accurately predict which cancer patients will respond to standard oncology treatments. KIYATEC has developed a validated process to use a cancer patient’s own live cells to accurately predict treatment response prior to beginning treatment.
