LAVA Therapeutics Announces Two Appointments to its Board of Directors
June 15 2022 - 7:00AM
LAVA Therapeutics N.V. (Nasdaq: LVTX), a clinical stage
immuno-oncology company focused on developing its proprietary
Gammabody™ platform of bispecific gamma delta T cell engagers to
transform the treatment of cancer, today announced the appointments
of James Noble and Jay Backstrom, M.D., M.P.H., as non-executive
directors to its board of directors. The Company also announced
today that Erik van den Berg, co-founder of LAVA and chief
executive officer of AM-Pharma, Joël J.P. Jean-Mairet, Ph.D.,
managing partner and co-founder of Ysios Capital, and Nanna
Lüneborg, Ph.D., general partner of Forbion, are stepping down from
the board following the conclusion of the annual general meeting
held today, June 15.
“We are pleased to welcome James and Jay to
LAVA’s board. Their expertise leading clinical development,
regulatory affairs, U.S. FDA approvals and finance at global
biopharmaceutical companies will be impactful as we advance our two
clinical trials for hematologic and metastatic castration-resistant
prostate cancers and our earlier stage Gammabody pipeline,” said
Stephen Hurly, president and chief executive officer of LAVA
Therapeutics. “On behalf of the leadership team and board, I also
want to thank Erik, Joël and Nanna for their valuable service
during a positive transition period for LAVA as we became a U.S.
public company, entered the clinic and continued to execute on our
commitment to patients.”
Mr. Noble most recently served as chief
executive officer of Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc until 2019 after
co-founding it in 2008; he remains on the board. Prior, Mr. Noble
was chief executive officer of Immunocore, which he also
co-founded. Mr. Noble has also served as a non-executive board
director for publicly traded life science companies, including as
deputy chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Jazz
Pharmaceuticals in 2021. Currently, Mr. Noble is chairman of Orexo
AB, Sutura Therapeutics and Celleron Therapeutics. Mr. Noble
received an M.A. from the University of Oxford.
Dr. Backstrom most recently served as executive
vice president, research and development, at Acceleron Pharma
through its acquisition by Merck in 2021. Previously, Dr. Backstrom
was chief medical officer and head of regulatory affairs for
Celgene Corporation, where he was instrumental in bringing
REBLOZYL®, co-developed by Celgene and Acceleron, through to
regulatory approval. Prior, he worked as vice president of clinical
research and development, myelodysplastic syndrome and acute
myeloid leukemia, as well as chief medical officer, through the
completion of the Bristol Myers Squibb-Celgene merger in 2019. Dr.
Backstrom now serves as a non-executive board director of Autolus
Therapeutics, Be Biopharma and Disc Medicine. He earned his M.D.
and completed medical training at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine
at Temple University, and he received a Master’s in public health
from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health.
About LAVA TherapeuticsLAVA
Therapeutics N.V. is a clinical stage immuno-oncology company
utilizing its proprietary Gammabody™ platform to develop a
portfolio of bispecific gamma delta T cell engagers for the
potential treatment of solid and hematological malignancies. The
Company utilizes bispecific antibodies engineered to selectively
kill cancer cells by triggering Vγ9Vδ2 (Vgamma9 Vdelta2) T cell
antitumor effector functions upon cross-linking to tumor-associated
antigens. LAVA-051, the Company’s lead candidate for the treatment
of multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute myeloid
leukemia, is enrolling patients in a Phase 1/2a clinical study
(NCT04887259). A Phase 1/2a clinical study to evaluate LAVA-1207 in
patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer
(mCRPC) is also enrolling (NCT05369000). For more information,
please visit www.lavatherapeutics.com, and follow us on LinkedIn,
Twitter and YouTube.
LAVA’s
Cautionary Note
on Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release contains
forward-looking statements, including with respect to the company’s
anticipated growth and clinical development plans, including the
timing of clinical trials. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,”
“could,” “will,” “may,” “expect,” “should,” “plan,” “intend,”
“estimate,” “potential” and similar expressions (as well as other
words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or
circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are based on LAVA’s expectations
and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are
subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include,
but are not limited to, statements about the preclinical data,
clinical development and scope of clinical trials, and the
potential use of our product candidates to treat various tumor
targets. Many factors, risks and uncertainties may cause
differences between current expectations and actual results
including, among other things, the timing and results of our
research and development programs and preclinical and clinical
trials, our ability to obtain regulatory approval for and
commercialize our product candidates, our ability to leverage our
initial programs to develop additional product candidates using our
Gammabody™ platform, and the failure of LAVA’s collaborators to
support or advance collaborations or our product candidates. The
COVID-19 pandemic may disrupt our business and that of the third
parties on which we depend, including delaying or otherwise
disrupting our clinical trials and preclinical studies,
manufacturing, and supply chain, or impairing employee
productivity. In addition, there may be adverse effects on our
business condition and results from general economic and market
conditions and overall fluctuations in the United States and
international equity markets, including deteriorating market
conditions due to investor concerns regarding inflation and
hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. LAVA assumes no obligation
to update any forward-looking statements contained herein to
reflect any change in expectations, even as new information becomes
available.
CONTACTSInvestor
Relationsir@lavatherapeutics.com
Argot Partners
(IR/Media)212-600-1902lava@argotpartners.com
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