BOSTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bicara Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing dual-action biologics to elicit a potent and durable immune response, today announced the expansion of its board of directors with the appointments of biopharmaceutical industry veterans Kate Haviland and Scott Robertson.
“Kate and Scott bring an impressive breadth of experience and leadership within the biopharmaceutical industry, as well as strong backgrounds in business development, portfolio strategy, operations and corporate finance,” said Claire Mazumdar, Ph.D., MBA, chief executive officer of Bicara Therapeutics. “Their expertise will be important as we continue to advance our first-in-class EGFR/TGF-β-trap bifunctional antibody, BCA101, in clinical development for multiple different cancer types including HPV-negative, recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.”
About Kate Haviland
Kate currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of Blueprint Medicines, having held the previous roles of chief operating officer and chief business officer. Prior to joining Blueprint Medicines, Kate held leadership roles focused on building emerging, high-growth companies and advancing the development of innovative therapies in oncology and rare diseases as vice president, rare diseases and oncology program leadership at Idera Pharmaceuticals, head of commercial development at Sarepta Therapeutics, executive director of commercial development at PTC Therapeutics, and roles in both corporate development and project management at Genzyme. She also serves as chair of the board of directors at Fulcrum Therapeutics.
Kate holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and received her B.A. from Wesleyan University with a double major in biochemistry/molecular biology and economics.
About Scott Robertson
Scott will serve as audit committee chair of Bicara Therapeutics. Most recently, Scott served as the chief business and financial officer of DICE Therapeutics prior to its acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company for approximately $2.4 billion. Prior to DICE, Scott served as business development director for DuPont Pioneer, with responsibility for mergers & acquisitions and strategic partnerships. He also held the position of portfolio manager with DuPont Ventures, where he focused on strategic investment opportunities in crop genetics and precision agriculture. Prior to joining DuPont, Scott was an investment professional at MPM Capital, a life sciences-dedicated venture capital fund, and before that he was a member of the healthcare investment banking teams at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Thomas Weisel Partners.
Scott holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and received his B.S. in business administration from the University of Southern California.
About Bicara Therapeutics
Bicara Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class biologics engineered to combine the precision of well validated, tumor-targeting antibodies with the power of tumor microenvironment modulators. The company’s bifunctional antibodies are designed to deliver an immunomodulatory payload directly to the tumor microenvironment to ramp up immune cell activity, offering the potential for synergistic therapeutic impact at the site of the tumor. Bicara’s lead product candidate, BCA101, is a first-in-class EGFR/TGF-β-trap bifunctional antibody currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/1b study. For more information, please visit www.bicara.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.
