Corbus Pharmaceuticals Appoints Dr. Dominic Smethurst as Chief Medical Officer

NORWOOD, Mass., Feb. 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRBP) (“Corbus” or the “Company”), a precision oncology company with a diversified portfolio, today announced the appointment of Dr. Dominic Smethurst, MA MRCP, as the Company’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO). In this role, Dr. Smethurst will lead the clinical development of the Company’s investigational oncology drugs: CRB-701, a next generation Nectin-4 targeting antibody drug conjugate (ADC) developed in partnership with CSPC, and CRB-601, a TGFβ blocking monoclonal antibody targeting the integrin αvβ8. Additionally, Dr. Smethurst will help guide strategic development of CRB-913, the Company’s highly peripherally restricted CB1 inverse agonist for the treatment of obesity.

“We are pleased to welcome Dominic to the Corbus team and look forward to benefitting from his experience in developing novel oncology therapeutics including ones that specifically target Nectin-4", said Yuval Cohen, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Corbus. “His unique experience will prove invaluable as we are about to initiate the US dose escalation study for CRB-701 this quarter while our partners at CSPC are undertaking the dose expansion study in China. We look forward to sharing the clinical data from these trials at future medical conferences and to Dominic’s leadership in that process.”

“The first-in-human data on CRB-701 in Nectin-4 positive tumors presented at ASCO-GU were encouraging, and the emerging clinical data suggests a differentiated PK and favorable safety profile for CRB-701 as compared to enfortumab vedotin,” said Dr. Smethurst. “The potential to deliver higher doses of a Nectin-4 ADC while keeping patients on treatment for longer due to an improved safety and tolerability profile is an attractive and impactful value proposition for both physicians and patients. I look forward to executing the clinical and regulatory strategy for CRB-701 in bladder cancer as well as in other Nectin-4 rich tumors and advancing the other assets in the Corbus pipeline to meaningful clinical and strategic milestones throughout 2024 and beyond.”

Dr. Dominic Smethurst has over twenty years of experience working with various pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, clinical research institutions, and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). He most recently served as CMO of Bicycle Therapeutics, where he helped advance Nectin-4 investigational drugs through early stage and into late-stage development. Previously, Dr. Smethurst worked as a consultant advising biopharma companies, providing guidance on clinical development strategies and licensing projects. Prior to that, he served as CMO of Tusk Therapeutics, an immuno-oncology company acquired by Roche, where he oversaw development of antibodies targeting CD25 and CD137, among others. Previously, as Vice President Oncology and Global Therapeutic Area Lead at Icon, a global contract research organization, he executed clinical trials involving numerous novel cancer treatments, including CAR-T therapies. Prior to that, Dr. Smethurst held physician leadership roles at AstraZeneca, Amgen and Adaptimmune. Dr. Smethurst is a member of both the Royal College of Physicians and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine. He earned an MBChB with Distinction from Addenbrooke’s Clinical School Cambridge, as well as an MA from Christ’s College Cambridge.