Tizona Therapeutics Taps Joyson Karakunnel as Chief Medical Officer

Joyson Karakunnel has been appointed senior vice president and chief medical officer of Tizona Therapeutics. Karakunnel joins South San Francisco-based Tizona from Arcus Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RCUS]]), where he was vice president and head of clinical development. Privately held Tizona is developing cancer immunotherapies. In January, the company received $105 million up front plus an equity investment from AbbVie (NYSE: [[ticker:ABBV]]) in a partnership to develop Tizona’s lead drug candidate, TTX-030.

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.