NanoString Technologies Names Alessandra Cesano, M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer

NanoString Technologies, Inc.

, a provider of life science tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products, today announced that Alessandra Cesano, M.D., Ph.D. has been named Chief Medical Officer, effective July 6, 2015. Dr. Cesano brings more than 25 years of experience in drug development, diagnostics, and cancer immunology to NanoString. She holds an M.D., a Board Certification in Oncology and a Ph.D. in Tumor Immunology from the University of Turin. Early in her career, Dr. Cesano spent 12 years researching tumor immunology, including nine years at the Wistar Institute, an NCI Basic Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, which resulted in numerous publications and six patents. She is a member of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and is currently a member of SITC's Biomarker Task Force Working Group, which develops recommendations for the analytic and clinical validation of predictive biomarkers in immuno-oncology. Following a transition into the biopharmaceutical industry, Dr. Cesano played key roles at Amgen in the FDA approval of two cancer therapies, Vectibix and Kepivance. Later, in her role as Chief Medical Officer of Nodality Inc., she pioneered the diagnostic use of pathway-based biology to help drug developers deliver more effective drugs to more precisely targeted patient groups. "Alessandra brings to NanoString a unique blend of expertise in immuno-oncology, drug development and molecular diagnostics," said Brad Gray, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Her extensive scientific and executive level background in oncology is an ideal fit for our organization and strategy. In particular, her understanding of cancer immunology and therapeutic development will be instrumental in the execution of our immuno-oncology and companion diagnostic driven growth strategy over the long term." "In the field of precision oncology, it is imperative to match drug mechanism of action with the biology that supports the growth of a specific tumor. NanoString, with its nCounter® technology, is poised to play a leading role in meeting this need, through the generation of tests which encompass the complexity of tumor biology and immune response to provide clinically actionable information for patient management," said Dr. Cesano. "I am excited about the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the future of cancer patients and ultimately NanoString." Most recently, Dr. Cesano served as Chief Medical Officer at Cleave Biosciences, Inc. Previously, she was Chief Medical Officer and Chief Operations Officer at Nodality Inc., where she built and led the R&D groups, while providing the overall clinical vision for the organization. Prior to Nodality, Dr. Cesano held various management positions at Biogen Idec, Amgen, and SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, where she helped to advance various oncology drugs through late stage development. Dr. Cesano has served as a visiting professor at the School of Oncology and School of Biotechnology at the University of Turin, where she consulted on the academic curriculum and lectured on the development of various cancer drugs. In addition, she holds membership in several professional and scientific societies, including the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the European Hematologic Association (EHA) and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), and has been an author on over 100 research publications.