Harpoon Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a novel class of T cell engagers, has appointed Karin Ann Thacker, M.Sc., as vice president, regulatory affairs and quality assurance. Thacker joins Harpoon from Gritstone Oncology where she most recently served as vice president, global regulatory affairs.

“I am pleased to welcome Karin Thacker to Harpoon’s executive management team to oversee our global regulatory affairs and quality assurance efforts,” said Gerald McMahon, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Harpoon Therapeutics. “Karin is a deeply experienced regulatory and quality assurance executive in the biopharma industry and I am confident she will contribute to the advancement of our TriTAC T cell engager pipeline programs as they continue to advance forward in clinical studies.”

Thacker joins Harpoon with more than 20 years of leadership experience in regulatory affairs and quality assurance in the biopharmaceutical industry. At Gritstone, she built out the Regulatory Affairs function, served as the lead on two INDs, and provided regulatory strategic expertise on the development of personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines, bispecific antibodies, biomarkers and companion diagnostics. She also led FDA interactions on the design and quality systems for the company’s GMP bioinformatics and manufacturing facilities. Prior to Gritstone, she served as senior director, head of regulatory development, Global Regulatory Affairs at Puma Biotechnology. She has also held positions at Gilead Sciences, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Genitope Corporation, Chiron Corporation, and Sanofi Pasteur in roles of increasing responsibility. Thacker received her M.Sc., and B.Sc. (hons) degrees in microbiology from the University of Manitoba.

“I am excited to join the team at Harpoon Therapeutics where there is an energy to do innovative work with the goal of impacting the treatment of cancer patients with advanced solid tumors and hematologic malignancies,” commented Thacker. “Harpoon has built an impressive and highly differentiated development pipeline, and I look forward to contributing to regulatory strategies to bring the potential of Harpoon’s drug candidates to their full medical and commercial potential.”