2009-07-27 14:17:05 -

NKT Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, today announced three new appointments to the company’s scientific advisory board (SAB). The additions include.

- Peter Cresswell, Ph.D., Professor of Immunobiology, Cell Biology and Dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine
- Peter A. Kiener, D. Phil., Executive Vice President, Research & Development at MedImmune.


- David Wofsy, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco


“The addition of these three outstanding scientists and drug development professionals to the NKT Therapeutics SAB reflects our goal of building a pipeline of first-in-class NKT cell-directed therapeutics to treat asthma, cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and dermatitis,” said Alem Truneh, Chief Scientific Officer of NKT Therapeutics.


Peter Cresswell,

Ph.D. Biography

Dr. Peter Cresswell is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University School of Medicine. He is also an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Cresswell received his B.S. degree in chemistry, his M.S. degree in microbiology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K., and his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry and immunology from London University. His postdoctoral training was completed at Harvard University with Jack Strominger. Before assuming his position at Yale, Dr. Cresswell was Chief of the Division of Immunology at Duke University Medical Center. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, U.K., and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.



Peter A. Kiener, D. Phil. Biography

Dr. Peter Kiener is MedImmune’s Executive Vice President, Research & Development with oversight of the global research and development functions for the biologics organization. Prior to joining MedImmune, Dr. Kiener spent 18 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Pharmaceutical Research Division, finally holding the position of director, immunology, inflammation, pulmonary and oncology drug discovery at the BMS facility in Princeton, NJ. Before his employment at Bristol-Myers, Dr. Kiener served as assistant professor at the University of North Texas/ Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Department of Anatomy; as a research associate at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts (Amherst); and as a postdoctoral research assistant, Medical Research Council, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. Dr.
Kiener holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in chemistry from Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK and a Doctorate of Philosophy in biochemistry from the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK. He has more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is an inventor on six issued patents and 12 published patents.


David Wofsy, M.D. Biography

David Wofsy, M.D. is Professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. He also serves as Associate Dean for Admissions at the UCSF School of Medicine. Dr. Wofsy received his M.D. from the University of California, San Diego. He subsequently underwent internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship training at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been Chief of the Division of Rheumatology at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and Director of the Department of Medicine Clinical Trials Center at UCSF. Dr. Wofsy also served as President of the American College of Rheumatology (2003-04). He is best known for his research in murine models for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), where he developed and tested several novel strategies for the treatment of SLE. His current research is devoted to the conduct of clinical trials of biologic therapies for people with autoimmune diseases, including SLE.


About NKT Therapeutics, Inc.

NKT Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics based on unique immune cells called natural killer T (NKT) cells. The company’s mission is to use its expertise to develop a pipeline of first-in-class NKT-based therapeutics to treat asthma, cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and dermatitis. For more information on the company, please visit www.nktrx.com : .


NKT TherapeuticsRobert Mashal, 781-684-0290 info@nktrx.com : mailto:info@nktrx.com orKureczka/Martin
AssociatesJoan Kureczka, 415-821-2413 Jkureczka@comcast.net : mailto:Jkureczka@comcast.net