HOOKIPA Announces Executive Leadership Changes
June 21 2022 - 9:00AM
HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOK, ‘HOOKIPA’), a company developing
a new class of immunotherapeutics based on its proprietary
arenavirus platform, today announced several leadership changes as
the company expands its clinical development and pipeline programs.
All new appointments are effective July 1, 2022.
- After five years, Igor Matushansky
will step down as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Global Head of
Research & Development, effective June 30, 2022. Matushansky
will continue to contribute to HOOKIPA’s pipeline development as
Chair of HOOKIPA’s Scientific Advisory Board.
- Katia Schlienger has been promoted
to Executive Vice President, Clinical Development. Schlienger was
previously Senior Vice President, Head of Immuno-oncology. In her
new role, Schlienger becomes a member of the Executive Team and
will lead all clinical development programs for HOOKIPA globally,
inclusive of immuno- oncology and infectious diseases.
- Roman Necina, Chief Technology
Officer, is appointed to the newly created role of Chief
Development Officer (CDO). In addition to his current manufacturing
responsibilities, he will be responsible for integrating Portfolio
and Project Management, IT & Knowledge Management, and
Operational Excellence across all line functions, with the goal of
the accelerating the pipeline.
“We are grateful to Igor for his contributions
in bringing our novel arenavirus technology from early preclinical
to early clinical proof of concept. The Board and I look forward to
continuing to work closely with him, benefiting from his expertise
as Chair of our Scientific Advisory Board and providing counsel for
HOOKIPA’s overall clinical strategy,” said Joern Aldag, Chief
Executive Officer at HOOKIPA. “With Katia’s strong expertise in all
phases of clinical development in oncology therapeutics and
vaccines, she will seamlessly progress our clinical programs to the
next level. Roman’s management skills will reinforce the
integration of all areas of our company, strengthening our
execution as we advance multiple assets through the clinic.”
“We have a very strong and experienced team in
place that positions us well in the next phase of our
organizational growth as we advance our arenavirus platform,” added
Aldag.
About Katia SchliengerKatia
Schlienger, MD, PhD joined HOOKIPA as Senior Vice President, Head
of Immuno-Oncology, in January 2021. She has had primary
responsibility for the execution of the HB-200 therapeutic program
for HPV16+ cancers, and its progression from Phase 1 to Phase 2.
She was also instrumental in developing new clinical assets for
prostate cancer and KRAS mutated tumors. Prior to HOOKIPA,
Schlienger worked at Merck & Co., serving in roles of
increasing responsibility across early and late-stage development
in both oncology and vaccines. Earlier in her career, Schlienger
was an Assistant Research Professor at University of Pennsylvania,
where she worked in Carl June’s lab on immunotherapy for ovarian
cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Schlienger received her MD in
clinical pathology and PhD in microbiology with a focus on
immunology and virology, from the School of Medicine Lariboisiere
Saint-Louis and the Universite Denis Diderot in Paris, France,
where her research included work on an HIV vaccine.
About Roman NecinaRoman Necina,
PhD joined HOOKIPA in November 2019 as Chief Technology Officer,
where he has led HOOKIPA’s manufacturing operations, including
quality management and analytical and process development
activities. At HOOKIPA, he has built a global strategic Contract
Manufacturing Organization network and has been the driver of major
efficiency improvements, de-risking arenavirus vector
manufacturing. Prior to joining HOOKIPA, Necina was Senior Vice
President and Chief Strategist at Takeda and a member of the
company’s R&D Pharmaceutical Science Leadership Team.
Previously, he held senior-level leadership positions at Baxter,
Intercell and Boehringer Ingelheim, where he led plant expansions,
established global manufacturing networks, and led change
management processes. Roman obtained his PhD from the University of
Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna.About
HOOKIPAHOOKIPA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOK) is a
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing
novel immunotherapies, based on its proprietary arenavirus
platform, which are designed to mobilize and amplify targeted T
cells and thereby fight or prevent serious disease. HOOKIPA’s
replicating and non-replicating technologies are engineered to
induce robust and durable antigen-specific CD8+ cell responses and
pathogen-neutralizing antibodies. HOOKIPA’s pipeline includes its
wholly owned investigational arenaviral immunotherapeutics
targeting HPV16+ cancers, prostate cancer, KRAS-mutated cancers
(including colorectal, pancreatic and lung), and other undisclosed
programs. In addition, HOOKIPA aims to develop functional cures of
HBV and HIV in collaboration with Gilead.
Find out more about HOOKIPA online
at www.hookipapharma.com.
For further information, please contact: |
|
|
Media |
Investors |
Michael Szumera |
Matt Beck |
Executive Director - Communications |
Executive Director - Investor Relations |
michael.szumera@hookipapharma.com |
matthew.beck@hookipapharma.com |
+1 917 561 8905 |
+1 917 209 6886 |
Forward Looking
StatementsCertain statements set forth in this press
release constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as
amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such
as “believes,” “expects,” “plans,” “potential,” “would” or similar
expressions and the negative of those terms. Such forward-looking
statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could
cause HOOKIPA’s research and clinical development programs, future
results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from
those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such
risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties
inherent in the drug development process, including HOOKIPA’s
programs’ early stage of development, the process of designing and
conducting preclinical and clinical trials, the regulatory approval
processes, the timing of regulatory filings, the challenges
associated with manufacturing drug products, HOOKIPA’s ability to
successfully establish, protect and defend its intellectual
property, risks relating to business
interruptions resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease
outbreak or similar public health crises, the impact of COVID-19 on
the enrollment of patients and timing of clinical results, and
other matters that could affect the sufficiency of existing cash to
fund operations. HOOKIPA undertakes no obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of
the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as
well as risks relating to the business of the company in general,
see HOOKIPA’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
March 31, 2022, which is available on the Security and
Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov and HOOKIPA’s
website at www.hookipapharma.com.
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