Shefali Agarwal was named chief medical officer of Epizyme Inc. In this role, Agarwal will oversee all of the company’s activities related to the global strategic development of tazemetostat, a potent, selective, orally available EZH2 inhibitor, as well as additional pipeline candidates.
Over the span of her career, Agarwal has held leadership positions across medical research, clinical development, clinical operations, and medical affairs. She has led clinical and regulatory engagements for small molecules, biologics, liposomal and cell therapy products across the full spectrum of drug development, from pre-IND work to filing.
Agarwal most recently served as chief medical officer at SQZ Biotech, where she built and led the clinical development organization, which included clinical research operations and the regulatory function. She brings significant oncology experience to Epizyme, having held leadership positions at Curis and Tesaro.
At Curis, Agarwal oversaw the phase II study for its dual HDAC/PI3K inhibitor in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and the phase I study in solid tumors for its oral checkpoint inhibitor. At Tesaro, Agarwal led the NDA and EMA submissions for Zejula (niraparib) in ovarian cancer. She has also held positions of increasing responsibility at Covidien, AVEO Oncology, and Pfizer.
In addition to receiving her MBBS medical degree from Karnataka University’s Mahadevappa Rampure Medical School in India. Agarwal earned a master’s of public health from Johns Hopkins University, where she led clinical research in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine. She also holds a master’s of science in business from the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business.
