Curis, Inc. announced the appointment of James E. Dentzer as Chief Financial and Chief Administrative Officer. The company also announced the promotions of David Tuck, M.D. to the role of Chief Medical Officer, and Mani Mohindru, Ph.D. to the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Mr. Dentzer most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals. Previously, Mr. Dentzer helped finance and develop global biotechnology organizations as Chief Financial Officer at Valeritas, Inc. and Amicus Therapeutics, Inc., and Vice President and Corporate Controller of Biogen. Prior to Biogen, Mr. Dentzer held roles of increasing responsibility at DuPont, Kemper Financial Services, and Bank of America (formerly Bank of Boston).
Dr. Tuck joined Curis in May 2015 and has most recently served as the Company's Senior Vice President of Clinical and Translational Sciences. He joined Curis from EMD Serono, where he served as Senior Medical Director in the Oncology Translational Innovation program. Previously, Dr. Tuck was at Bristol-Myers Squibb Global Oncology Research in the role of Translational Physician for ipilimumab, with a primary focus on external development of immune checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Dr. Tuck was an Associate Professor at Yale University and Associate Director of the Yale Cancer Center. Dr. Mohindru joined Curis in June 2013 and has most recently served as the Company's Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations. Previously, she spent several years as a Wall Street equity research analyst covering the biotechnology sector, including analyst roles at ThinkEquity LLC, Credit Suisse Securities and UBS Securities.
Curis, Inc. is a biotechnology company. The Company is focused on the development of emavusertib (CA-4948), an orally available, small molecule inhibitor of Interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase (IRAK4). Emavusertib is undergoing testing in the Phase I/II TakeAim Lymphoma study in patients with relapsed/refractory primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) in combination with the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib, as a monotherapy in the Phase I/II TakeAim Leukemia study in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and relapsed/refractory high risk myelodysplastic syndrome (hrMDS). Its other clinical programs include Fimepinostat and CA-170. Fimepinostat is an oral, dual inhibitor of histone deacetylase (HDAC), and phosphotidyl-inositol 3 kinase (PI3K) enzymes. CA-170 is an oral small molecule drug candidate that is designed to selectively target V-domain Ig Suppressor of T-cell Activation (VISTA) and PDL1 immune checkpoint proteins.