Summit Therapeutics Inc. announced that Dr. Alessandra Cesano, MD, PhD, has been appointed to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Dr. Cesano is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Essa Pharma Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer. Previously, she was the CMO at NanoString Inc. and Cleave Biosciences.

She has 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry focused in oncology, including extensive experience at Biogen, Amgen, and GSK. She was instrumental in the development and approval of two marketed drugs including Vectibix® (panitumumab), an anti-EGFR antibody for the treatment of certain colorectal cancers. Dr. Cesano currently serves on the board of Puma Biotechnology Inc, a clinical stage oncology company focused on solid tumors.

She graduated from the University of Turin with her PhD in tumor immunology and her MD. She is a Board Certified oncologist in Europe.