Novartis exec joins Kymab as chief medical officer

Cambridge, UK-based monoclonal antibody specialist Kymab Group today announced the appointment of Dr Sonia Quaratino as its first chief medical officer. Dr Quaratino will manage the clinical development of the group's expanding therapeutic antibody portfolio.

Dr Quaratino is an immunologist and joins Kymab from Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX), where she has served as global clinical program leader - transitional clinical oncology, responsible for the clinical development of proprietary therapeutic antibody programs in immuno-oncology. Prior to her role with Novartis, Dr Quaratino was senior medical director and immunology advisor at Merck Serono, where she was responsible for the clinical development of various immunomodulators. Dr Quaratino also has over 20 years of professional experience in biomedical research in UK academic institutions including Imperial College London and the University of Southampton.

Welcoming Dr Quaratino to the company, chief executive Dr David Chiswell said: “With her demonstrated track record in clinical development and medical affairs, Sonia is a superb addition to Kymab‘s management team as we prepare for our first clinical trials. Sonia’s deep understanding of the global environment in clinical research complement those of Dr Arndt Schottelius, our new executive VP of R&D who recently joined us from MorphoSys. These two key appointments add a high calibre of depth and provide further validation to our burgeoning and advancing R&D pipeline.”