Biotech Veteran and Virologist Joins CancerVax as Senior Scientific Advisor
Lehi, Utah, Jan. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lehi, Utah, January 27, 2026 – CancerVax, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough universal cancer treatment platform that uses the body's immune system to treat cancer, today announced that George Kemble, PhD will serve as a Senior Scientific Advisor.
Dr. Kemble is a veteran biotech executive and scientist with a specialty focus in the areas of virology, vaccines and small molecule biologics. Dr. Kemble is currently the Chairman of the Board at Sagimet Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibitors for cancer treatment, liver fibrosis, acne and other diseases. He joined Sagimet in August 2011 as its chief scientific officer and served as CEO from October 2015 until October 2022, when he transitioned to the role of executive chairman. In May 2025, Dr. Kemble moved into the role of non-executive Chair of the Board. At Sagimet, he directed medicinal chemistry, research, translational and CMC groups, and worked on several programs including the lead product candidate, denifanstat.
Prior to Sagimet, Dr. Kemble served as the senior vice president of R&D and head of research at MedImmune, Inc., a subsidiary of AstraZeneca PLC. During his tenure, he was responsible for a large group of scientists dedicated to the research and development of programs across a number of therapeutic areas, including the launch of FluMist®, the first innovation in influenza vaccines in over 60 years. Dr. Kemble received a BS degree from the University of Santa Clara, a PhD from Stanford University and completed post-doctoral training at UCSF, where he worked on various human viruses.
CancerVax was founded on the idea that disguising cancer cells to resemble foreign viruses can effectively "trick" the immune system into recognizing and aggressively attacking them.
Dr. Kemble commented, "The human body is quite amazing at fighting foreign viruses through adaptive immunity such as prior infection or vaccination. Cancer, on the other hand, is a disease that originated from healthy cells and the body has a hard time recognizing it as foreign. There's a lot of work in the field that tries to teach the immune system what cancer looks like. CancerVax's approach of making cancer look like well immunized diseases, such as chickenpox or measles, is a very interesting approach. I look forward to helping."
"Dr. Kemble brings a rare combination of deep virology expertise, vaccine innovation, and executive leadership to CancerVax," said Dr. George Katibah, Chief Scientific Officer of CancerVax. "His career has been defined by translating fundamental immunology into real-world therapies, and his perspective will be invaluable as we advance our platform that reframes cancer as a target that the immune system already knows how to defeat."
To learn more about the CancerVax platform, please watch the Short Explainer Video at https://cancervax.com/explainer
About CancerVax
CancerVax is a pre-clinical biotech company developing a novel Universal Cancer Treatment platform that will be customizable, as an injection, to treat many types of cancer. Our innovative approach DETECTS, MARKS, and KILLS only cancer cells. By making cancer cells look like well-immunized common diseases, such as measles or chickenpox, we intend to use the body's natural immune system to easily kill the cancer cells. We look forward to the day when treating cancer will be as simple as getting a shot — a better way to fight cancer. To learn more, please visit www.CancerVax.com
Forward-Looking Statements
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Press Contact:
CancerVax, Inc.
Tel: (805) 356-1810
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