
Exclusive: Cell and gene therapy biotech creator Replay plucks Allogene CMO Arun Balakumaran to lead clinical trials
Arun Balakumaran remembers working down the corridor at the NIH from fellow researcher Katy Rezvani back in the aughts. He never pictured the duo working together one day at a biotech company.
But starting Monday, he’ll be chief medical officer of cell and gene therapy incubator Replay and its portfolio company Syena.
The cell therapy upstart teamed up with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to create Syena, which was unveiled in February. Rezvani is a co-founder of Syena, which plans to start two clinical trials by year’s end in solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Rezvani’s work has led to licensed programs at Takeda and Affimed, as well.
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