Calidi Biotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new generation of targeted antitumor virotherapies, announced the appointment of Guy Travis Clifton, MD as Chief Medical Officer, Consultant and Advisor.
“With our recently filed IND for a company sponsored, dose escalation trial of CLD-201 in adult patients with solid tumors, Dr. Clifton’s oncology and advisory experience will be invaluable to us and our goal to advance our stem cell-based and enveloped virus platforms through the clinic and to patients in need,” said Allan Camaisa, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Calidi Biotherapeutics. “I am delighted to welcome Dr. Clifton to our leadership team, and I look forward to leveraging his deep oncological experience to support the continued growth of Calidi going forward.”
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Dr. Clifton is a practicing surgical oncologist with over 17 years of experience in drug development, early phase and translational clinical trials, and cancer immunotherapy. From 2013 to current, he has served as a practicing surgical oncologist in the US Army. He also served as the Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Parthenon Therapeutics / Incendia Therapeutics from October 2020 to August 2024. He has worked with over 20 companies in an advisory role and has over 80 peer-reviewed publications on cancer and related topics. As a Colonel in the Army, he served on multiple deployments including four to Afghanistan, as well as to New York City in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Clifton received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the United States Military Academy, West Point, and Doctor of Medicine from Vanderbilt University; completed his residency in General Surgery from the Brooke Army Medical Center; and fellowship in General Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“I am excited to join Calidi at such a pivotal time for the company, developing two cutting-edge immunotherapies. Calidi’s systemic approach, a platform using extracellular enveloped viruses, is designed to target and kill metastatic tumor cells while delivering a powerful payload. Its intratumoral approach, a platform that is designed to target and kill solid tumors, uses stem cells to protect and amplify the potency of the virotherapy. In both cases, the unique approach protects the virotherapy from the body’s immune system during administration. These novel approaches have the potential to transform the way we treat cancer,” said Dr. Clifton, newly-appointed Chief Medical Officer, Consultant and Advisor of Calidi.
SOURCE: GlobeNewswire