UTRECHT, The Netherlands and PHILADELPHIA, June 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 Therapeutics
LAVA 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 Statements
This 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.
CONTACTS
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