Jason Campagna, M.D., Ph.D., has taken up the chief medical officer position at Q32 Bio. Campagna arrives at Q32 after a stint at Intercept Pharmaceuticals that saw him rise to the CMO role at the biotech.
Q32 broke cover in May, at which time it disclosed a previously closed $46 million series A round led by Atlas Venture and plans to advance a pipeline featuring an anti-IL-7R antibody. Months later, Q32 raised a $60 million series B co-led by OrbiMed Advisors and Acorn Bioventures and started dosing healthy volunteers with the IL-7R candidate ADX-914.
With money in the bank and a second drug closing in on phase 1, Q32 has moved to add to its clinical development expertise through the appointment of Campagna as CMO. Campagna joins a team that includes Charles Romano as vice president of clinical development operations.
Prior to taking up the Q32 post, Campagna worked at Intercept. Campagna joined Intercept in 2016 to lead its global nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) program. Back then, Intercept was flying high as a front-runner in the race for the hyped NASH market. Campagna, who took over as Intercept CMO in 2019, leaves a company brought low by a regulatory setback in NASH.
Q32 is still in its early days as a clinical-phase biotech, leaving it free of the scars carried by Intercept and countless other companies. Campagna has helped Q32 reach this point as a clinical counselor, and that experience informed his decision to take the CMO post.
“I have had a close eye on Q32 Bio for years as an advisor through Atlas Venture. I have always been attracted by their strong scientific team and the notion of immune system re-balancing, and have been impressed at the extraordinary, rapid advancements Q32 Bio has made in both drug discovery and clinical development,” Campagna said in a statement.
The clinical development group has already moved ADX-914 into human testing. Under Campagna’s leadership, ADX-914 is set to be joined in the clinic by fusion protein ADX-097 in the second half of the year.