G1 Therapeutics CEO Jack Bailey
Company of the Year (Public)
Company: G1 Therapeutics
City: Research Triangle Park
Age of firm: 14 years
Description of firm: Develops and delivers cancer therapies
What drove your firm’s growth in the past year? G1 successfully achieved FDA approval in 2021 for its novel cancer therapy for patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, an aggressive disease requiring an equally aggressive treatment regimen. Cosela helps protect patients against chemotherapy damage to their bone marrow, which can cause debilitating side effects, treatment delays and compromised outcomes. Further, Cosela represents an entirely new proactive treatment paradigm. G1’s clinical program is tumor agnostic, with Cosela being studied across multiple cancer types.
Complete the following statement: Since its inception, the firm is most proud of … bringing to market an innovative cancer therapy that received FDA breakthrough designation and priority review due to the clear patient need. Only 5 percent of oncology drugs reach approval from phase I clinical trials, according to statistics compiled by BIO.org. Moreover, in 2021 G1 also launched multiple clinical trials to evaluate Cosela for its potential effects on immunity, its antitumor efficacy and its impact on overall survival in multiple tumor types.
What upcoming initiative or milestone are you most looking forward to in 2022-23? We’re eagerly anticipating readouts from three Phase 2 studies and two Phase 3 studies in 2022 and 2023, respectively, with the goal of expanding our label to help more cancer patients, including those with colorectal cancer, bladder cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. These trials are evaluating a variety of endpoints beyond bone marrow protection, including overall survival, objective response rate and confirming trilaciclib’s mechanism of action in modulating the antitumor immune response.
What should the Triangle do to nurture an even more vibrant atmosphere for the life sciences community? There’s no question we’re imbued with incredible talent and resources in the Triangle. As a spin-out of UNC-Chapel Hill, our company is a product of this hub of intellectual excellence that cultivates entrepreneurial endeavors and helps bring them to fruition. To expand these endeavors, we must create more public-private partnerships, while ensuring we have the space and the resources – wet labs and research facilities, for example – to reduce the barriers to entry.
