CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AlloVir (NASDAQ:ALVR), a late clinical-stage cell therapy company, announced the appointment of Ercem Atillasoy, M.D., as the company's Chief Regulatory and Safety Officer, a newly created position. Dr. Atillasoy brings nearly 25 years of experience leading drug, biologic, and infectious disease product development. Most recently, Dr. Atillasoy was at Merck Research Laboratories serving as Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head of Vaccines and Infectious Disease in Global Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Safety. He had responsibility and oversight for Merck's extensive portfolio of infectious disease products, many of which have transformed human health. In addition, he oversaw engagement and strategy with regulatory agencies across the world, including those in the United States, Europe, Japan, and China.

"We are delighted that Ercem is joining AlloVir as we prepare to enter multiple late-stage clinical trials across our pipeline of highly innovative therapeutics for patients suffering from, or at risk of, life-threatening viral diseases," said David Hallal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AlloVir. "Ercem's extensive global regulatory expertise and successes within the infectious disease therapeutic area represent a very important addition to our executive team as we expand our development programs in the U.S., Europe, and Asia."

During his nearly 20 years at Merck, Dr. Atillasoy had an instrumental role in expediting development and approval of novel medicines and vaccines that have changed the world, including vaccines against viruses, such as Ebola (Ervebo^®), human papillomaviruses that cause cancers, (Gardasil^® and Gardasil^®9), rotaviruses (RotaTeq^®), and those that cause pediatric illnesses (ProQuad^® and Vaxelis™). Most recently, he had regulatory oversight for Merck's publicly announced investigational COVID-19-related vaccine and small molecule programs. Dr. Atillasoy has led regulatory filings and approvals for many antiviral agents, such as those against HIV (Isentress^®, Delstrigo™, and Pifeltro™), cytomegalovirus (Prevymis™), and hepatitis C (Zepatier^®). In addition, Dr. Atillasoy oversaw the first investigational new drug (IND) filing for Keytruda^® for melanoma, and he has supported approval of other oncology products including Zolinza^® for cutaneous T cell lymphoma and Emend^® for the prevention of chemotherapy-associated nausea.*

"AlloVir has built a proprietary, highly efficient technology platform that has yielded an investigational pipeline of allogeneic, off-the-shelf T cell therapies. The platform offers novel solutions with potential to address significant unmet global health needs among patients suffering from viral diseases who lack effective treatments today," said Dr. Atillasoy. "I am excited to join the AlloVir team and guide our products through development and anticipated regulatory filings and approvals."

Earlier in his career, Dr. Atillasoy worked with the Medical Affairs Departments at Sandoz and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he supported licensure of anti-infective, dermatology, tissue engineered products (including Apligraf^®)*, and cell therapies. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Dr. Atillasoy was selected and currently serves as the industry representative to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dermatologic and Ophthalmologic Drugs Advisory Committee and served as Merck's senior representative to the PhRMA Regulatory Steering Group and the BIO Vaccine Regulatory Advisory Committee. Dr. Atillasoy has published papers on a range of topics, including infectious disease, gene therapy, melanoma, dermatology, and tissue engineering.

Dr. Atillasoy is a graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine and completed his medical internship at Yale New Haven Hospital and his dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. He conducted research in carcinogenesis and gene therapy at the Wistar Institute. He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the City University of New York.

*Ervebo^®, Gardasil^® and Gardasil^®9, RotaTeq^®, ProQuad^® Isentress^®, Zepatier^®, Zolinza^®, Keytruda^® and Emend^® are registered trademarks of Merck and Co., Inc. Vaxelis™, Delstrigo™, Pifeltro™, and Prevymis™ are trademarks of Merck and Co., Inc. Apligraf^® is a registered trademark of Organogenesis Inc.

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Media contact:
Courtney Heath
ScientPR
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617-872-2462

Investor contact:
Medha Chadha
AlloVir
[email protected]