American Gene Technologies® Appoints Dr. Drew Palin as Business and Strategy Advisor to the CEO
Dr. Palin’s expertise in the intersection of business and technology strengthens AGT™ capability to bring patient solutions to the market.
American Gene Technologies (AGT) announces the appointment of Dr. Drew Palin as business and strategy advisor to Jeff Galvin, CEO.
“I am excited to have Drew officially on board. He has been informally advising me for some time now, and he is an invaluable addition to the team,” said CEO Jeff Galvin. “Drew’s extensive medical and business background combined with his unique sense of entrepreneurship will greatly accelerate AGT’s mission.”
Dr. Palin is a bold healthcare entrepreneur with rare expertise encompassing clinical medicine, information technology, and medical devices. Over the course of his career, Dr. Palin has raised $20M to fund new entities and generated multi-million-dollar revenues, selling new products based on vision, personal integrity, and trust. In addition to his role at AGT, Dr. Palin has been the founding CEO, Chief Medical Officer, and Chief Innovation Officer for multiple start-ups, including Intellivisit, a leading AI-based clinical diagnosis platform based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“My entire career has been spent at the nexus of medicine and technology. I’ve been a physician, entrepreneur, and executive leader. I’m excited to help AGT be successful in any way I can,” said Dr. Palin. “AGT has over a decade of creative discovery, development, patents, and clinical work from scientists and business people that has yielded a platform that is on the verge of having measurable human impact on millions of patients currently suffering with HIV. There are many gene and cell therapy companies doing outstanding work and approving drugs for previously deadly or untreatable diseases, but I believe that AGT will be one of the first companies to bring a component based platform that creates new efficiency and greater competition in the pharmaceutical market.”
Dr. Palin’s experience as a business leader, investor, and entrepreneur will be a significant asset to AGT’s mission, as AGT moves forward with its Phase 1 clinical trial of AGT103-T, an HIV cure cell and gene therapy. Dr. Palin will advise AGT’s CEO on a wide variety of business, operational, governance, and commercialization strategies to maximize the chance of success in human trials and to bring new solutions to patients.
Phase 1 in the Maryland/D.C. Area
AGT’s Phase 1 trial for AGT103-T is currently underway at trial sites in the Maryland / Washington, DC area. The recruitment status of the phase 1 RePAIR (Restore Potent Antiviral Immune Responses) clinical trial along with information of the trial sites can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov. The trial is the company’s first step in clinical testing of cell and gene therapies for HIV, cancer, and rare diseases.
About HIV
According to UNAIDS, approximately 37.7 million people worldwide live with HIV/AIDS. In the United States, government statistics show 1.2 million people have HIV and estimate that 34,800 Americans were newly infected with HIV in 2019. Across the globe, UNAIDS estimates that approximately 1.5 million individuals were newly infected with HIV in 2020. The Washington D.C./Baltimore area is often cited as a ‘hot spot’ for HIV, with Washington, D.C., having the highest rate of infection at nearly 46 cases per 100,000 population and Baltimore City having rates of 17 cases per 100,000. Maryland also ranks sixth among U.S. states and territories in HIV diagnosis rates, with more than 900 new cases in 2019 alone, according to the Maryland Department of Health.
Since the late 1980s, antiretroviral drugs have restored quality of life to persons living with HIV and, in some cases, have even been used to prevent new infections. However, no approved treatment has demonstrated the ability to cure HIV. AGT is committed to addressing this unmet medical need.
About AGT103-T
AGT103-T is a genetically modified cell product made from a person's own cells. AGT's unique approach focuses on repairing the key immune system damage caused by HIV. AGT’s goal is to develop a cell and gene therapy capable of repairing the immune system so it will provide natural control over HIV replication.
About American Gene Technologies
AGT is a gene and cell therapy company with a proprietary gene-delivery platform for rapid development of cell and gene therapies to cure infectious diseases, cancers, and inherited disorders. AGT's mission is to transform people's lives through genetic medicines that rid the body of disease. AGT has been granted four patents for the technology used to make AGT103-T and 11 patents for its unique immuno-oncology approach to stimulate gamma-delta (γδ) T cells to destroy a variety of solid tumors. The company has developed a synthetic gene for treating Phenylketonuria (PKU), a debilitating inherited disease. AGT's treatment for PKU has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and it is expected to reach the clinic in 2022.
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