Persevere Therapeutics Appoints James Barlow to Board as MYC Inhibitor Misetionamide Enters Phase 2

Persevere Therapeutics (搜索)搜索该词条, Inc. has appointed James "Jim" Barlow to its Board of Directors, effective August 31, 2026, as the Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania-based clinical-stage oncology company prepares to advance its lead candidate misetionamide查看药品详情 into Phase 2 testing. Chairman and CEO Greg Bosch said the appointment "comes at an exciting and pivotal moment for Persevere," as the company initiates its "MIROC-1" Phase 2a clinical trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (搜索)搜索该疾病 this quarter and advances as a 2026 CPRIT Finalist to fund a Phase 2 trial in pancreatic cancer (搜索)搜索该疾病.

Board Appointment Brings Oncology Financing and Development Expertise

Barlow currently serves as President, CEO, and a Board member of ImmunoGenesis (搜索)搜索该词条, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, a role he has held since April 2020. At ImmunoGenesis, Barlow has led the raising of more than $110 million in equity and non-dilutive financing, with funding sources including private investors, institutional venture capital, two CPRIT grants, and the MD Anderson Cancer Focus Fund. ImmunoGenesis has also secured two Investigational New Drug clearances and moved multiple drug candidates into clinical development during his tenure.

"Jim has done exactly what we are setting out to do — built a company from the ground up, raised capital creatively, advanced assets into the clinic, and navigated the complex intersection of science, finance, and strategy in oncology," Bosch said, adding that Barlow's "experience and network will be invaluable as we advance misetionamide查看药品详情 toward patients who desperately need new options."

Before ImmunoGenesis (搜索)搜索该词条, Barlow was Vice President of Operations and Business Development at Geneos Therapeutics, a personalized cancer vaccine company spun out from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, where he was one of the company's first two employees and led tumor prioritization efforts that resulted in the design and initiation of its first clinical trial less than nine months after the company's Series A financing. At Inovio, Barlow drove immuno-oncology product strategy across commercial, clinical, and R&D functions. He previously served as Payer Marketing Lead for YERVOY查看药品详情 at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he also contributed to the launch of OPDIVO查看药品详情, and spent eight years in commercial leadership roles within Merck & Co.'s oncology division.

Barlow said he was "honored to join the Persevere Board at such an exciting juncture," calling misetionamide查看药品详情 "a potentially transformational therapy for cancer patients." The company did not disclose financial terms associated with Barlow's board appointment.

Misetionamide: A First-in-Class MYC Inhibitor

Persevere Therapeutics (搜索)搜索该词条 is developing misetionamide查看药品详情, a first-in-class inhibitor of MYC (搜索)搜索该靶点, a protein historically viewed as "undruggable" and described as the "grand orchestrator of cancer growth." The company holds two open FDA INDs for ovarian and pancreatic cancers, has completed a 55-patient Phase 1 clinical trial, and is initiating a Phase 2a trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (搜索)搜索该疾病 in the third quarter of 2026 across four U.S. clinical sites.

Persevere is also a 2026 CPRIT Finalist to fund a randomized Phase 2 combination trial in pancreatic cancer (搜索)搜索该疾病. The company was named Persevere as an enduring reminder that it must "Never Give Up" on behalf of cancer patients who persevere every day. Its mission is the singular pursuit of improved clinical outcomes for cancer patients with its novel therapeutic, misetionamide查看药品详情.

Barlow holds a Master of Business Administration with honors in strategy and marketing from Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, where he was a Dean's Scholar, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematical Economics, summa cum laude, from Colgate University.