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Inhalon Biopharma Appoints Jeff Hutchins, Ph.D. as Chief Development Officer
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Industry Veteran, Dr. Hutchins, to Build Pipeline of Inhaled Respiratory Infection Treatments
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Durham, North Carolina, July 16, 2021—Inhalon Biopharma, Inc., a start-up immunotherapy company developing an inhaled “muco-trapping” antibody platform for treating a variety of acute respiratory infections (ARI), today announced that it has named Dr. Jeff Hutchins as its Chief Development Officer.
"Jeff’s considerable management experience and drug development expertise is expected to have an immediate impact on the development path of Inhalon’s proprietary platform,” said John B. Whelan, Inhalon’s president and chief executive officer. "His background in preclinical and clinical development provides a unique skill set that we believe will help the company realize the full potential for our technology as he builds out our research and development team.”
Dr. Hutchins was most recently Chief Science and Chief Operating Officer at Heat Biologics (Nasdaq: HTBX) where he guided a focus on cancer and infectious disease directed therapies that activate the human immune system. Prior to joining Heat, Dr. Hutchins served as Vice President of Preclinical Research at Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics to fight cancer and infectious diseases. Dr. Hutchins also served as Vice President, Preclinical Development at Inhibitex, Inc., which was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Earlier, Dr. Hutchins held several senior scientist positions in discovery research at Burroughs Wellcome and Glaxo Wellcome, with a visiting professor appointment at Rush Medical College. Dr. Hutchins earned a B.S. in Biology from Oral Roberts University, a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Texas, Health Science Center at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and conducted postdoctoral training at the University of Southern California’s Department of Microbiology at the Norris Cancer Center. Dr. Hutchins’ publications and patents span the fields of oncology, infectious disease, osteoarthritis and immunology.
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About ARIs
ARIs affect large, vulnerable populations, especially pediatric, elderly and immunocompromised patients. Today there are no effective treatments for a wide range of ARIs that can lead to hospitalization, long-term health complications and sometimes death. These infections are the starting point for serious illnesses, such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and can exacerbate underlying conditions, including COPD and congestive heart failure.
About Inhalon’s “Muco-Trapping” Immunotherapy Platform
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Although mucus in the lung airways is designed to protect the body from infections, pathogens have evolved to move easily through mucus to infect cells in the airways. Inhalon’s breakthrough discovery enables inhaled antibodies to trap pathogens in mucus. These trapped pathogens are unable to spread or infect cells and are rapidly eliminated by normal mucus clearance in minutes – swept into the digestive tract where they are killed by stomach acid and can do no further damage. The muco-trapping technology was pioneered by Professor Sam Lai of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and licensed exclusively from UNC and Johns Hopkins University.
About Inhalon
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Inhalon Biopharma is a start-up immunotherapy company developing an inhaled antibody platform for treating a variety of acute respiratory infections. Inhalon’s intellectual property includes an approved US and EU patent covering the composition of aerosolized muco-trapping antibodies. Inhalon is supported by Breakout Labs and angel investor syndicates led by Life Science Angels and others, including, Band of Angels, Sandhill Angels, Berkeley Catalyst Fund, as well as several federal contracts.
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Contact
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Inhalon
John Whelan
Media
Edie DeVine
209-814-9564
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