Tizona’s Karakunnel Joins Innate Pharma as Chief Medical Officer

Innate Pharma (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IPHA]]) announced that Pierre Dodion, the company’s chief medical officer since 2014, is retiring. The Marseille, France-based cancer immunotherapy developer says Dodion will continue to consult with the company in his retirement.

To succeed Dodion, Innate Pharma has appointed Joyson Karakunnel as executive vice president and chief medical officer. He was most recently the CMO of Tizona Therapeutics. His experience also includes positions at Arcus Biosciences and AstraZeneca (NYSE: [[ticker:AZN]]). Innate Pharma markets moxetumomab pasudotox (Lumoxiti), a treatment for hairy cell leukemia that it licensed from AstraZeneca. Karakunnel will be based in Innate Pharma’s Rockville, Maryland office.

Author: Frank Vinluan

Xconomy Editor Frank Vinluan is a business journalist with experience covering technology and life sciences. Based in Raleigh, he was a staff writer at the Triangle Business Journal covering technology, biotechnology and energy before joining MedCityNews.com as North Carolina bureau chief. Prior to moving to North Carolina’s Research Triangle in 2007 he held business reporting positions at The Des Moines Register and The Seattle Times. View all posts by Frank Vinluan