GEMoaB Announces Internationally Renowned Experts to Newly Formed Strategic and Scientific Advisory Board
DRESDEN, Germany, March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GEMoaB, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of next generation immunotherapies for hard-to-treat cancers, today announced the appointment of five distinguished scientific, clinical and public affairs leaders to its inaugural Strategic and Scientific Advisory Board. The group will provide counsel to support the continued development of the company's proprietary immune-oncology platforms and help to shape the company's broader strategic and scientific decisions and plans.
"We are thrilled to have this group of experts join our Strategic and Scientific Advisory Board," said Michael Pehl, CEO of GEMoaB. "We look forward to working closely with our Strategic and Scientific Advisory Board members as we continue to build a fully integrated and leading biopharmaceutical company and accelerate our UniCAR, RevCAR and ATAC pipeline efforts to bring them to cancer patients in need."
Members of GEMoaB's Strategic and Scientific Advisory Board are:
Professor Dr. Gerhard Ehninger – Gerhard is GEMoaB's co-founder and Chief Medical Officer and will chair the Strategic and Scientific Advisory board. He is a pioneer in the field of cancer cell therapies and has dedicated his career to clinical and translational oncology research. Gerhard was Head of Hematology & Oncology, University Hospital 'Carl Gustav Carus', Technical University Dresden, Germany as well as the former President of the German Society of Hematology and Oncology (DGHO). Furthermore, Gerhard is co-founder of the German Bone Marrow Donor Registry (DKMS), Chief Executive Officer and founding shareholder at Cellex Gesellschaft für Zellgewinnung mbH and founding shareholder of GEMoaB Monoclonals GmbH.
Professor Dr. Michael Bachmann – Dr. Bachmann is an internationally leading expert in tumor immunology and founding shareholder of GEMoaB Monoclonals GmbH. Dr. Bachmann is Director of the Institute for Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research, Helmholtz-Center Dresden, Germany as well as Head of Radioimmunology, Helmholtz-Center Dresden, Germany. In addition, Dr. Bachmann is Head of Tumor Immunology, University Cancer Center (UCC), University Hospital 'Carl Gustav Carus', Technical University Dresden, Germany and Deputy Head of the Working Group Tumor Immunology of the German Society for Immunology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immunologie, DGfI).
Professor Dr. Bob Löwenberg – Dr. Löwenberg's unique scientific career has focused on the pathobiology, molecular diagnostic, clinical and translational research of acute myeloid leukemia. Dr Löwenberg is Professor of Hematology and is the former Chairman of the Department of Hematology at Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Dr. Löwenberg was one of the founders and has served as President of the European Hematology Association (EHA). He has been president of the International Society of Experimental Hematology and the International Society of Hematology. He is former Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and current member of the Board of the European School of Hematology (Paris). He founded and subsequently served as the first president of the Dutch-Belgian Cooperative Group on Hemato-Oncology in Adults (HOVON), one of the leading cooperative clinical trial consortia in hemato-oncology in Europe. Between 2013-2020, Dr. Löwenberg was the Editor-in-Chief of Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. Bob Löwenberg is an elected member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Netherlands.
Dr. Thomas de Maizière – Dr. de Maizière is a member of the German Parliament, Member of the Finance Committee of the German Parliament, former German Federal Minister and has throughout his distinguished career served in multiple key public and governmental roles in Germany. Dr. de Maizière has been Head of State Chancellery of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Minister of State and Head of State Chancellery of Saxony, Minister of State of Finance of Saxony, Minister of State of Justice of Saxony, Minister of State of the Interior of Saxony, Federal Minister and Head of Federal Chancellery of Germany, German Federal Minister of the Interior and German Federal Minister of Defence.
Professor Dr. Katy Rezvani – Dr. Rezvani is the Director of Translational Research, Medical Director of the MD Anderson GMP and Cell Therapy Laboratory and Chief, Section of Cellular Therapy, Department of Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston/Texas, USA. Dr. Rezvani joined the faculty at the MDACC in 2012 from the Hammersmith Hospital in London, where she was Director of the allogeneic adult stem cell transplant program, Medical Director of the GMP facility and Director of the Transplant Immunology Research Laboratory. Dr. Rezvani has an active research laboratory program in transplantation immunology where the focus of her research group is to study the role of natural killer cells (NK) cells in mediating immunity against leukemia, and to understand the mechanisms of tumor-induced NK cell dysfunction
"Our efforts are focused on maximizing the potential of engineered cellular therapies in hematology and oncology," said Professor Dr. Gerhard Ehninger, GEMoaB's co-founder and Chief Medical Officer. "The deep expertise and past experiences of all of our Strategic and Scientific Advisory Board members will bolster GEMoAB's ability to positively impact patients' lives."
About GEMoaB
GEMoaB is a privately-owned, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is aiming to become a globally leading biopharmaceutical company. By advancing its proprietary UniCAR, RevCAR and ATAC platforms, the company will discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize next generation immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer patients with a high unmet medical need.
GEMoaB has a broad pipeline of product candidates in pre-clinical and clinical development for the treatment of hematological malignancies as well as solid tumors. Its clinical stage assets GEM333, an Affinity-Tailored Adaptor for T-Cells (ATAC) with binding specificity to CD33 in relapsed/refractory AML, and GEM3PSCA, an ATAC with binding specificity to PSCA for the treatment of castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer and other PSCA expressing late-stage solid tumors, are currently investigated in Phase I studies and globally partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb/Celgene. A Phase IA dose-finding study of the first UniCAR asset, UniCAR-T-CD123 for treatment of relapsed/refractory AML and ALL has been initiated, UniCAR-T-PSMA against CRPC and other PSMA-expressing late-stage solid tumors, is planned to be tested in a Phase I study initiated by H2 2020.
Manufacturing expertise, capability and capacity are key for developing cellular immunotherapies for cancer patients. GEMoaB has established a preferred partnership with its sister company Cellex in Cologne, a world leader in manufacturing hematopoietic blood stem cell products and a leading European CMO for CAR-T cells, co-operating in that area with several large biotech companies.
About UniCAR
GEMoaB is developing a rapidly switchable universal CAR-T platform, UniCAR, to improve the therapeutic window and increase efficacy and safety of CAR-T cell therapies in more challenging cancers, including solid tumors. Standard CAR-T cells depend on the presence and direct binding of cancer antigens for activation and proliferation. An inherent key feature of the UniCAR platform is a rapidly switchable on/off mechanism (less than 4 hours after interruption of TM supply) enabled by the short pharmacokinetic half-life and fast internalization of soluble adaptors termed targeting modules (TMs). These TMs provide the antigen-specificity to activate UniCAR gene-modified T-cells (UniCAR-T) and consist of a highly flexible antigen-binding moiety, linked to a small peptide motif recognized by UniCAR-T.
About ATAC
GEMoaB's platform of Affinity-Tailored Adaptors for T-Cells (ATAC) is characterized by high binding affinity to tumor antigens and lower affinity to the CD3 antigen on effector T-cells, preventing T-cell auto-activation in pre-clinical models. Safety and tolerability of the treatment are also increased by the relatively short serum half-life (60 min). The use of fully humanized antibodies reduces the risk of immunogenicity even in case of chronic dosing. Half-life extended ATACs are in pre-clinical development.
More information can be found at www.gemoab.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results and matters discussed in the forward looking statements. Forward looking statements include statements concerning our plans, goals, future events and or other information that is not historical information.
The Company does not assume any liability whatsoever for forward-looking statements. The Company assumes that potential partners will perform and rely on their own independent analyses as the case may be. The Company will be under no obligation to update the Information.
GEMoaB Monoclonals GmbH
Tatzberg 47
01307 Dresden
GERMANY
For further information please contact
Constanze Medack
c.medack@gemoab.com; Tel.: +49 351 4466-45027
Investor Contact
Michael Pehl
m.pehl@gemoab.com; Tel.: +49 351 4466-45030
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