Leucid Bio Appoints Filippo Petti as Chief Executive Officer

• Seasoned CAR T executive to lead Leucid's corporate strategy built around its proprietary lateral CAR platform

LONDON, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leucid Bio ("Leucid" or the "Company"), a biotech company pursuing a differentiated approach to develop next generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using the Company's proprietary Lateral CAR platform, today announced the appointment of Filippo Petti as its Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect. Mr. Petti has also been named as a member of Leucid Bio's Board of Directors.

Mr. Petti brings broad industry expertise to the organization across operations, finance and research. He has experience working with biotech companies focused on oncology drug development both in the U.S. and Europe. Most recently, Mr. Petti was Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Celyad Oncology SA, a biotechnology company focused on CAR-T cell therapies for cancer.

Prior to Celyad Oncology SA, Mr. Petti spent several years as a healthcare investment banker at Wells Fargo Securities and William Blair & Company, where he specialised in working with cell and gene therapy companies. In addition, Mr. Petti has worked in equity research both at William Blair & Company and Wedbush Securities. He began his career as a research scientist at OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. before transitioning to corporate development with the company. Mr. Petti holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University, a Master of Science from St. John's University and a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University.

Commenting on the appointment, Ian Miscampbell, Chairman of Leucid Bio, said: "Leucid will benefit immensely from Filippo's proven leadership skills, extensive deal-making experience and in-depth scientific knowledge. Over the past year, Leucid has taken key steps to advance the Company's lead Lateral CAR programme LEU011 towards the clinic. The Board is confident Filippo will help guide Leucid during this critical next phase, as it pivots from a discovery company into a clinical organisation, while accelerating our growth as a world-class CAR-T cell company focused on the treatment of cancer patients. Everyone is looking forward to working under his leadership and executing on his vision for the Company."

Filippo Petti, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, added: "Leucid's unique approach to the field of CAR-T has tremendous potential to help cancer patients around the world. The ability to combine the Company's proprietary Lateral CAR platform with other emerging technologies the team are developing is incredibly exciting. I look forward to working with its exceptionally talented team to advance LEU011 and its other cell therapy programmes into the clinic and ultimately to the market." 

About Leucid Bio

Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King's) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid's ongoing relationship with King's, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise of John Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts.

Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy's Hospital with its own R&D and process development laboratories, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours. 

About LEU011

LEU011 is a lateral CAR cell therapy targeting NKG2D ligands. LEU011 is currently awaiting approval from regulators to commence clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological malignancies. The NKG2D receptor is an activating immune receptor that triggers cell death upon recognition of one or more of the eight human NKG2D ligands expressed on transformed, infected or damaged cells. LEU011 has potential for the treatment of multiple cancer types as NKG2D ligands are expressed on more than 80% of human tumour cells.