Autolus Announces Appointment of Edgar Braendle, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Development Officer
July 15 2021 - 7:00AM
Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T
cell therapies, today announced the appointment of Edgar Braendle
M.D., Ph.D., as chief development officer. Dr Braendle is joining
Autolus’ executive team today and will lead the company's
development organization.
“Edgar joins Autolus at an exciting time, with
our lead program obe-cel in a pivotal study for the treatment of
relapsed/refractory adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL),” said
Dr. Christian Itin, chief executive officer of Autolus. “His
in-depth oncology development experience and leadership skills,
acquired over the course of his extensive career, will be
invaluable in progressing obe-cel through its first pivotal study
and to start the planning and preparations for our first BLA
filing.”
"Driving the first potentially curative and well
tolerated therapy for adult ALL patients to approval is a unique
opportunity given the underserved nature of this disease,” said Dr.
Braendle. "I look forward to working with my colleagues at Autolus
and our academic collaborators to realize the opportunities, not
just for obe-cel, but across our pipeline of next generation CAR T
therapies."
Dr. Braendle is an experienced oncologist. He
joins Autolus from Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Oncology (SDPO), where
he held the position of Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of
Development and was responsible for leading the global oncology
development programs of Sumitomo Dainippon. At SDPO, he led the
full range of development functions spanning from early and
late-stage clinical development, medical affairs, clinical
operation, project management, CMC, regulatory affairs, quality,
bio-statistics, data management, PV & drug safety, and clinical
pharmacology. Prior to that, he held the role of Executive VP, Head
of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer at Boston
Biomedical Inc. Previously, Dr. Braendle served as President and
CEO of ARUP Laboratories, a national clinical and anatomic
pathology reference laboratory. Prior to this, he spent more than a
decade at Novartis, where he served as Senior Vice President and
Global Head of Companion Diagnostics leading the company's
precision medicine approach. In an earlier role as Vice President,
Global Head of Oncology Biologics, Dr. Braendle led the development
of oncology biologics in early to late stages. He started his
industry career at Schering AG. Dr. Braendle received a medical
degree and training in hematologic malignancies and solid tumor
oncology, pharmacology and urology at the University of Aachen,
University of Bonn, and the University of Ulm in Germany.
About Autolus Therapeutics
plcAutolus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
developing next-generation, programmed T cell therapies for the
treatment of cancer. Using a broad suite of proprietary and modular
T cell programming technologies, the company is engineering
precisely targeted, controlled and highly active T cell therapies
that are designed to better recognize cancer cells, break down
their defense mechanisms and eliminate these cells. Autolus has a
pipeline of product candidates in development for the treatment of
hematological malignancies and solid tumors. For more information,
please visit www.autolus.com.
About obe-cel obe-cel is a
CD19 CAR T cell investigational therapy designed to overcome the
limitations in clinical activity and safety compared to current
CD19 CAR T cell therapies. Designed to have a fast target
binding off-rate to minimize excessive activation of the programmed
T cells, obe-cel may reduce toxicity and be less prone to T cell
exhaustion, which could enhance persistence and improve the ability
of the programmed T cells to engage in serial killing of target
cancer cells. In collaboration with our academic partner, UCL,
obe-cel is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial in
adult ALL and B-NHL. The company has also progressed obe-cel to the
FELIX study, a potential pivotal study.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
statements that are not historical facts, and in some cases can be
identified by terms such as "may," "will," "could," "expects,"
"plans," "anticipates," and "believes." These statements include,
but are not limited to, statements regarding the future clinical
development, efficacy, safety and therapeutic potential of obe-cel,
including progress, expectations as to the reporting of data,
conduct and timing and potential future clinical activity and
milestones; expectations regarding the initiation, design and
reporting of data from clinical trials. Any forward-looking
statements are based on management's current views and assumptions
and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results, performance, or events to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in such statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks that
Autolus’ preclinical or clinical programs do not advance or result
in approved products on a timely or cost effective basis or at all;
the results of early clinical trials are not always being
predictive of future results; the cost, timing and results of
clinical trials; that many product candidates do not become
approved drugs on a timely or cost effective basis or at all; the
ability to enroll patients in clinical trials; possible safety and
efficacy concerns; and the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
on Autolus’ business. For a discussion of other risks and
uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could
cause Autolus’ actual results to differ from those contained in the
forward-looking statements, see the section titled "Risk Factors"
in Autolus' Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2021, as well as discussions of
potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in
Autolus' subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date
of the release, and Autolus undertakes no obligation to publicly
update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by
law.
Contact:
Lucinda Crabtree, PhDVice President, Business
Strategy and Planning+44 (0) 7587 372
619 l.crabtree@autolus.com
Julia Wilson+44 (0) 7818
430877j.wilson@autolus.com
Susan A. NoonanS.A. Noonan
Communications+1-212-966-3650susan@sanoonan.com
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