New-generation T cell immunotherapy at the intersection of adaptive and innate immunity

Cell & Gene Therapy Insights 2021; 7(10), 1455–1464

10.18609/cgti.2021.193

Published: 25 November 2021
Interview
Daniel Corey, John Rossi, Remus Vezan

Daniel Corey is founder and chief executive officer of CERo Therapeutics. A board-certified hematologist, Dr. Corey led the foundational discovery research to identify and define the therapeutic utility of chimeric engulfment receptors and advance understanding of the basic biology of innate immune responses. Dr. Corey received his medical degree from the University of Washington Medical School and completed his residency in internal medicine at Duke. Dr. Corey completed a series of fellowships in cell biology, immunology and hematology at Duke University and Stanford University.

John Rossi leads the Translational Medicine team at CERo. Prior to joining, Mr. Rossi was Senior Director of Translational Medicine and Head of Cell Therapy Clinical Pharmacology at Kite, a Gilead Company. While at Kite, Mr. Rossi led translational activities supporting the clinical development and global approvals of YESCARTA®️ and TECARTUS®️ CAR T cell therapies. Mr. Rossi’s team also supported work focusing on the mechanistic understanding of engineered cell therapy products under strategic collaborations with the NCI and numerous leading academic institutions. Before Kite, Mr. Rossi spent 13 years in oncology drug development at Amgen working with teams to identify novel biomarkers for hematologic and solid tumor drug development programs.

Remus Vezan MD PhD, joined CERo in April 2021 from Kite, a Gilead Company, where he spent the last four years in cell therapy clinical development, most recently as Executive Director of Clinical Development. At Kite, Dr Vezan oversaw the clinical development of more than 20 CAR T-cell trials, as a single agent or in various combinations for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. Under his leadership, YESCARTA®️ and TECARTUS®️ were granted various global approvals. Before Kite, Dr Vezan served as Medical Director at Pharmacyclis, an Abbvie Company. Dr Vezan completed his medical training (MD and PhD) at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj, Romania and University of Bern, Switzerland.