DENVER & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TriSalus Life Sciences (TriSalus), an emerging immuno-oncology company committed to transforming outcomes for patients with solid tumors, announced today the appointment of Trevor McCaw as Chief Commercial Officer, a new position within TriSalus reporting directly to TriSalus CEO, Mary Szela. McCaw will play a central role in integrating the Company’s therapeutics and innovative drug delivery systems to provide a total solution for patients. McCaw was most recently President and Chief Commercial Officer of Clerio Vision.
Mary Szela, Chief Executive Officer and President of TriSalus Life Sciences, said, “Trevor’s passion for taking on scientific challenges and translating them into solutions that make a difference in the lives of patients is inspiring. He shares our belief in the capabilities of integrating novel therapeutics with drug delivery systems in an effort to improve outcomes for patients with solid pancreatic and liver tumors. His talents solidify our management team and his experience and the results he’s achieved as a medical device leader will serve to advance the TriSalus vision. I’m excited by and confident in Trevor’s abilities to help us realize our vision on behalf of patients.”
In this role, McCaw will assume leadership responsibility for the Company’s on-market technology commercialization efforts, oversight of strategic and tactical execution of sales, upstream and downstream marketing, field clinical support and training, and oversight of the long-term strategy for integrating therapeutics with the technology business.
Trevor McCaw, Chief Commercial Officer of TriSalus Life Sciences, said, “My life’s work has been centered on advancing innovative medical device and healthcare technologies aimed at improving patients’ lives. I’m thrilled to be part of the TriSalus team and its belief in and willingness to develop ways to change the outcomes for those with the most intractable forms of cancer, namely solid tumors of the liver and the pancreas. Integrating novel therapeutics and device technology is such a logical, but underappreciated way in which we can make a difference in cancer care.”
In addition to his work at Clerio Vision, McCaw served as President and Chief Operating Officer for Blueprint Clinical, where he oversaw the development and commercialization of COMPASS, a leading risk-based monitoring analytic platform for clinical trials. McCaw founded Aegis Medical Innovations of Vancouver, overseeing fundraising, operations, R&D and clinical trials of a break-through implantable cardiovascular stroke prevention device licensed from Mayo Clinic. McCaw received his Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Computer Engineering from Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, and a Master’s degree in Business from Harvard School of Business, Cambridge, MA.
TriSalus Research Efforts
TriSalus was formed to investigate treatments to help stimulate the immune system to overcome immunosuppression by delivering a combination of immuno-oncology therapies directly to the site of disease. The Company is researching this multi-pronged approach to reprogram the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, harness the power of tumor killing agents, and deliver these therapies directly to the tumor through its Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery™ (PEDD™) approach. The Company has identified validated, IND-ready targets to acquire through license agreements, collaborations, or joint ventures. TriSalus is initially focused on the goal of successfully treating intractable solid tumors including uveal melanoma liver metastases and pancreatic cancer.
About SD-101
TriSalus recently acquired SD-101, an investigational Toll-Like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist that has been tested in Phase 2 clinical trials for advanced cutaneous melanoma and head and neck cancer, evaluating efficacy, safety, and the ability to increase responsiveness to checkpoint inhibitors in PD-L1 negative tumors.
By combining SD-101 with TriSalus’ proprietary FDA cleared, drug delivery technologies, TriSalus will deliver the agent into the local vasculature of solid tumors. The Company intends to begin evaluating SD-101 in patients with uveal melanoma liver metastases followed by testing in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and colorectal cancer liver metastases. In addition, a separate program for locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is in progress.
SD-101 is an investigational proprietary short sequence of synthetic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) which binds to the Toll-Like receptor 9 (TLR9) found on suppressive immune cells including myeloid-derived suppressor cells and antigen presenting cells. SD-101 has been evaluated in numerous clinical studies to assess safety and efficacy. Investigational studies suggest responsiveness to checkpoint inhibitors in PD-L1 negative tumors as well as inducing an influx of cytotoxic T cells and interferon gamma production.
SD-101 will be evaluated in multiple visceral organ tumor types to assess its safety and activity via PEDD as well as in combination with other immunotherapies and modalities. For more information on SD-101 clinical trials that are currently recruiting patients, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.
About Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery™ (PEDD™)
Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery (PEDD) approach with SmartValve™ technology features a self-expanding, nonocclusive, one-way valve which can infuse therapeutics into solid tumor vasculature. The FDA cleared SmartValve devices have been shown to deliver more therapy into the tumor while preventing embolic reflux.
About TriSalus Life Sciences
TriSalus Life Sciences is a revenue generating, emerging immuno-oncology company dedicated to developing immunotherapy treatments for liver and pancreatic tumors using our novel delivery technologies to improve patient outcomes. TriSalus intends to pursue multiple solid tumor indications with investigational SD-101 and acquire other immuno-oncology agents to combine with its proprietary Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery™ technology for the administration of therapeutics intravascularly into visceral organ solid tumors. In combination with checkpoint inhibitors, TriSalus’ focus is to reprogram the dominant immunosuppressive cell population in liver and pancreatic tumors. This innovative approach in development has the potential to leverage multiple mechanisms that can work together with the goal to overcome inherent immune suppression within the solid tumor microenvironment. For more information, please visit www.trisaluslifesci.com.
