The new chief scientific officer of Mereo BioPharma Group (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MREO]]) is acquainted with the London-based company and its lead cancer drug candidate. John Lewicki was previously the CEO of OncoMed, a cancer drug developer whose stumbles in clinical trials led to a 2017 corporate restructuring, and then a reverse merger last year with Mereo. Following the merger, Mereo kept OncoMed’s Redwood City, CA, site.
At OncoMed, Lewicki held research and development roles, including chief scientific officer, prior to being named CEO. He was involved in the discovery and development of etigilimab, an experimental cancer immunotherapy that targets a protein called TIGIT. In his new role at Mereo, Lewicki will oversee the development of the compound, which is now being readied for a Phase 1b study expected to start later this year.
