[iNOVA4Health Seminar] Disruptive engineering of viral immunotherapies to create a world free of cancer

Abstract:
Turnstone Biologics is a multi-modality immuno-oncology company engineering disruptive therapeutics to create a world free from the burden of cancer. We manage cancer's complexity with holistic technologies capitalizing on viruses and their inherent ability to activate the immune system. We apply forward-thinking engineering to our therapeutic platforms, eliciting an immune response that fights cancer at multiple intervention points, including antigen recognition, lasting cellular immunity and the environment best-suited for tumor eradication. Guided by scientific rigor, we advance our pipeline, continuously refining our approach. This ensures we never lose sight of our high-hurdle vision: substantially improving the lives of people with cancer.
This talk will aim to provide an overview of Turnstone’s technology, offering a sampling of different scientific pursuits we’re currently engaged in. Also, this talk aims to provide a perspective on the intersection of scientific and people leadership, in a cutting-edge, top tier, venture backed biotechnology startup environment.

Short CV:
Dr. José Manuel (Manny) Otero has 17 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including in bioprocess development, manufacturing, and CMC of vaccines and complex biologics. He joined Turnstone Biologics from Seres Therapeutics, Inc., a leader in human microbiome therapeutics, where he was Vice President of Bioprocess Development and Manufacturing. At Seres Therapeutics, Dr. Otero oversaw the expansion of the bioprocess development and manufacturing group, and was the corporate team leader for the first synthetic microbiome therapeutic to enter Phase 1b clinical studies in the United States. Prior to that, Dr. Otero was Director of Engineering at Merck & Co.’s Vaccine Manufacturing Sciences & Commercialization division. In that role, he supported development programs for the Varivax™, Zostavax™, ProQuad™, and MMRII™ franchises. Prior to that role, he was Head of Fermentation Process Development, Vaccine Process Development within Merck Research Labs. Dr. Otero has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications. He earned a Ph.D. in chemical and biological engineering from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, and an M.Eng. in biomedical engineering and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.