Puja Sapra

I serve as Vice President, Tumour Targeted Delivery, Early Oncology. In my current role, I lead the research group dedicated to the discovery and preclinical development of targeted cancer therapeutics and novel delivery mechanisms that selectively attack cancer cells while sparing normal healthy tissues.

Throughout my 20-year career I have worked on a breadth of tumour-targeting strategies and biotherapeutics including immunotherapeutics, CD3-bispecifics, liposomal drug delivery systems, nanoparticles, antisense oligonucleotide delivery and pegylation technologies. In this time, I’ve built industry leading platforms and a diversified pipeline in the tumour-targeted oncology arena. I’ve had notable success identifying and bringing antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) to patients – including an ADC for adults and children with acute myeloid leukaemia, as well as an ADC for refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

I am passionate about the promise of targeted therapeutics, and I have given numerous lectures on this topic at national and international meetings. I have authored more than 50 scientific publications, book chapters, and I am a recognized inventor or co-inventor of more than 25 patents in the field. I am a member of several scientific and medical societies including American Association for Cancer Research and also serve as the Deputy Editor of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

I earned a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Alberta on an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research scholarship. My research was in the lab of Theresa M Allen who pioneered the concept of stealth liposomal technology that ultimately resulted in the development of a liposomal form of a well-known chemotherapy used to treat haematological malignancies and solid tumours.