Orum Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), has appointed Chad May, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer, bringing more than two decades of oncology and immunology R&D experience spanning antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), T-cell engagers, and next-generation therapeutic platform development.
In the role, May will set scientific vision and lead R&D strategy across discovery, translational research, and preclinical development, with a focus on advancing Orum’s proprietary DAC platforms and expanding the company’s pipeline. The appointment comes as Orum continues to build around its Dual-Precision Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD²®) approach, which combines targeted protein degrader payloads with antibody-based delivery intended to selectively degrade intracellular proteins within target cells via the E3 ubiquitin ligase pathway.
May most recently served as CSO at Serotiny, where he oversaw progress on a gene and cell therapy platform through post-acquisition integration into Johnson & Johnson. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Maverick Therapeutics, where he helped build the R&D organization, advanced conditionally active T-cell engager programs into clinical trials, and supported a build-to-buy collaboration with Takeda. Earlier, he held scientific leadership roles at Pfizer focused on T-cell engagers and ADCs, contributing to IND-enabling work and clinical development, and previously worked at ImClone Systems on the design, conjugation, and evaluation of antibody-based therapeutics.
Orum said May’s background in structure-driven platform design and experience translating complex modalities into clinical candidates aligns with the company’s aim to precision-engineer DACs and broaden applications in oncology and other serious diseases.
KEY QUOTES:
“Chad has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to take bold scientific concepts and advance them into clinical candidates across multiple therapeutic modalities.”
Sung Joo (SJ) Lee, Ph.D., Founder And CEO, Orum Therapeutics
“The Company’s Dual-Precision Targeted Protein Degradation approach provides a powerful foundation for creating new classes of degraders guided by antibody specificity.”
Chad May, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Orum Therapeutics
