LAVA Therapeutics Expands Management Team with Three Key Appointments
09 November 2021 - 10:30PM
LAVA Therapeutics N.V. (Nasdaq: LVTX), a clinical-stage
biotechnology company focused on developing its proprietary
Gammabody™ platform of bispecific gamma delta T cell engagers
(bsTCEs) to transform the treatment of cancer, today announced the
expansion of its management team with the appointments of
Jessica Truscello as vice president of clinical operations, Sumeet
Ambarkhane, M.D. as executive medical director and Wouter van
Hunnik as vice president of human resources.
“I am excited to welcome Jessica, Sumeet and
Wouter to the LAVA family. As we have transitioned to a clinical
stage organization, we need to grow the team to ensure continued
performance excellence,” said Stephen Hurly, president and chief
executive officer, LAVA Therapeutics. “Jessica brings more than 20
years of oncology clinical expertise, Sumeet has been instrumental
in shaping the development of approved hematological medicines and
Wouter is an expert in helping shape organizations as they grow.
One mark of a strong organization is its ability to attract
additional highly experienced individuals. These are important
hires for LAVA’s long-term success.”
Jessica Truscello, Vice President of
Clinical Operations Jessica Truscello brings more
than 22 years of clinical trial management and clinical operations
experience to LAVA Therapeutics. Most recently, she was a vice
president, head of clinical operations at Immunocore, a
late-stage biotechnology company developing T cell receptor
bispecific immunotherapies to treat cancer, infectious and
autoimmune diseases. During her six years at the company, Jessica
supported first-in-human programs through pivotal and late-stage
programs and the successful development of their clinical
compliance program. Prior to Immunocore, Jessica was a director,
clinical operations program lead and clinical program manager at
Pfizer where she was responsible for clinical and operational
execution, program strategy and partnership collaborations. Prior
to that, Jessica served as a clinical trial leader at Wyeth.
Jessica earned a bachelor of science degree in comprehensive
science from Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
Sumeet Ambarkhane, M.D., Executive
Medical DirectorSumeet Ambarkhane, M.D. is a clinical
development physician with expertise in oncology, hemato-oncology
and immunology, spanning more than 17 years. Sumeet has proven,
high impact leadership skills and in-depth experience in medical
monitoring, clinical program management, global regulatory
submissions, translational – biomarker research and drug safety.
Prior to joining LAVA, Sumeet was a senior global program medical
director at MorphoSys where he led medical and clinical strategy
for its hemato-oncology clinical development programs, including
tafasitamab (Monjuvi®) which was granted accelerated and
conditional approval respectively, by FDA and EMA. Before
MorphoSys, Sumeet spent seven years at UCB, Inc., assuming roles of
increasing responsibility for the company’s immunology and
neurology portfolio. He worked in functions such as strategic
project leadership, research and development (R&D) and medical
affairs and led cross-functional development teams to manage and
advance R&D pipeline projects at UCB. Sumeet earned a bachelor
of medicine, bachelor of surgery and medical doctorate degrees in
medicine and clinical pharmacology from Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas
Medical College, King Edward Memorial Hospital, University of
Mumbai in India.
Wouter van Hunnik, Vice President, Head
of Human ResourcesWouter is a proven leader with more than
15 years of experience in building excellence and taking innovative
approaches to human resources (HR) recruitment, culture shaping and
capability building. During his more than 11-year tenure at
Philips, Wouter served as vice president, head of HR solutions
transformation; vice president, head of HR integrated supply chain;
senior director, global HR business partner for the quality and
regulatory divisions; director, global HR program manager, markets
& acting program manager, organizational design and senior HR
manager for the MRI business unit. Before joining Philips, Wouter
served as a senior consultant at Boer & Croon Consulting.
Wouter earned a master of science degree in international business
administration with a focus on strategy and organization from
Maastricht University in The Netherlands.
About LAVA TherapeuticsLAVA
Therapeutics N.V. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company
utilizing its proprietary Gammabody™ platform to develop a
portfolio of bispecific gamma delta T cell engagers (gamma delta
bsTCEs) for the potential treatment of solid tumors and
hematological malignancies. The company’s innovative approach
utilizes bispecific antibodies engineered to selectively kill
cancer cells via the triggering of Vγ9Vδ2 T cell antitumor effector
functions upon cross-linking to tumor associated antigens. A Phase
1/2a clinical study evaluating LAVA-051 in patients with certain
hematological malignancies is currently enrolling (NCT04887259).
The company currently anticipates data from the Phase 1 dose
escalation phase of the study in the first half of 2022 with top
line clinical data from the Phase 2a expansion cohorts expected in
the second half of 2022. The company plans to initiate a Phase 1/2a
clinical study to evaluate LAVA-1207 in patients with prostate
cancer in the fourth quarter of 2021. For more information, please
visit www.lavatherapeutics.com and follow us on LinkedIn and
Twitter.
LAVA’s Cautionary Note on
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains
forward-looking statements, including in respect of the company’s
anticipated growth and clinical developments 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. In
addition, 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.
LAVA assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, even as new
information becomes available.
CONTACTCatherine
Day+1-917-763-2709Catherine@newdaybioconsulting.com
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