Tony Arulanandam, DVM, PhD
Head of Pre-Clinical Research & Development
Dr. Arulanandam has 20+ years of research and development experience in immunology, immuno-oncology, and gene therapy research from target identification through product registration. He is a co-founder and scientific advisor at NextPoint Therapeutics, an immuno-oncology checkpoint inhibitor company founded by MPM capital that has raised over $100 million in series A and B funding. He initiated newco research activities with Dr. Gordon Freeman out of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, pitching the science and partnering with MPM capital to start the company. He was also a venture advisor and consultant at Longwood Fund, evaluating and advising newco opportunities in the immunology and immuno-oncology space and was the founder of Tolereg therapeutics, a Treg cell therapy company targeting autoantibody-producing B cells in rare autoimmune diseases.
Prior to that, he was the SVP and head of research at Agilis therapeutics, a rare-disease gene therapy company acquired by PTC therapeutics, where he became the VP and head of gene therapy, nonclinical research. He held multiple discovery research and development postions, serving as a director and senior director at Ares-Serono, Biogen-Idec, Regeneron, and Alexion, working on multiple IND submissions in immunology and cancer indications including Dupilumab TM, Cemiplimab TM (PD-1 mAb) and SamalizumabTM (CD200 mAb). He authored 5 BLAs, including TysabriTM for multiple sclerosis (Biogen Idec), SarilumabTM for rheumatoid arthritis (Regeneron), DupilumabTM for atopic dermatitis and asthma (Regeneron), KanumaTM for LAL deficiency (Synageva/Alexion), and UpstazaTm gene therapy for aromatic acid decarboxylase deficiency (Agilis/PTC).
Dr. Arulanandam got his PhD in Immunology at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst under the mentorship of Dr. Richard Goldsby and did his post-doctoral fellowship in T and NK cell signaling and CD2 structure function studies in the laboratory of Dr. Ellis Reinherz at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institiute and Harvard Medical school.