Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. has appointed Syed Rizvi, MD, as Chief Medical Officer effective April 1, 2024.

Dr. Rizvi is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience across all stages of drug development, including clinical strategy, execution, and commercialization.

"Syed brings to Poseida an impressive combination of industry leadership and highly specialized drug development experience in cell therapy, and I am excited to welcome him to our leadership team during this important period of execution across our clinical stage CAR-T portfolio," said Kristin Yarema, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Poseida. "Syed has a proven track record in guiding the development and commercialization of multiple cancer treatments, including three approved autologous CAR-T cell therapies, and his expertise will be an invaluable asset as we usher in the next wave of cell and gene therapies."

"Poseida's compelling and proprietary science, impressive manufacturing capabilities, and execution-focused mindset position the company to bring potentially transformative therapies to patients with significant unmet medical needs," said Dr. Rizvi. "I look forward to working with an experienced leadership team to advance Poseida's promising pipeline of allogeneic CAR-T and gene therapy programs at an important and exciting time for the company."

Dr. Rizvi most recently served as Chief Medical Officer of Caribou Biosciences, where he was responsible for the overall strategy and execution of all clinical development programs. Prior to joining Caribou, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Chimeric Therapeutics, where he helped build the company's pipeline by licensing programs from leading universities and progressing existing programs through the clinical development process.

Dr. Rizvi previously led the development of CARVYKTI, an approved autologous BCMA CAR-T cell therapy for myeloma, along with other therapies as part of the leadership team at Legend Biotech. Prior to that, he was the global medical head of the CAR-T program at Celgene, where he was responsible for the global medical strategy for both ABECMA in myeloma and BREYANZI in lymphoma, supporting the clinical development strategy resulting in approval and potential label expansion into additional indications. Dr. Rizvi previously held global clinical leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis, Merck, and Genta, Inc.

Dr. Rizvi received his medical degree from Dow Medical College and spent several years as a physician, specializing in hematology and oncology, before moving into a clinical research role at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York. He has authored multiple scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and the European Hematology Association, among other professional organizations.