(Oxford, UK, 2 May 2013) Immunocore Limited, the Oxford-based biotechnology company developing novel drugs to treat cancer and viral disease, today announced the appointment of Eva-Lotta Allan to the Board as Chief Business Officer. This is a new position, which has been created to strengthen the company's management team as Immunocore continues to expand its operations. Ms Allan will join Immunocore on 7 May 2013.
Immunocore has created a world-leading T cell receptor technology which exploits the power of the body's own immune system to find and kill diseased cells. The company is developing a portfolio of products from the platform, called ImmTACs, for the treatment of cancer, chronic infectious disease and diabetes. The most advanced ImmTAC drug, IMCgp100 for the treatment of melanoma, is currently in clinical trials in the UK and USA.
Eva-Lotta Allan brings over two decades of business development experience from the biotechnology and life science industry and joins from Ablynx NV, where she served as Chief Business Officer since 2006. She was a key contributor to Ablynx's transformation from a small private platform company to a significant public biotechnology company with an impressive pipeline and partnerships. In her role as Ablynx's CBO, she closed a number of deals of significant value, with premier pharmaceutical companies bringing in over €160 million in non-dilutive cash to the company. Prior to Ablynx, Ms Allan was Senior Director of Business Development and Site Operations (Europe) at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. She received her degree in microbiology from the University of Stockholm.
James Noble, Immunocore's Chief Executive Officer, said: "I am pleased to welcome Eva-Lotta to our senior Management team and Board of Directors at this critical point for Immunocore as we expand and develop our pipeline of products. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience in business development."
Eva-Lotta Allan commented on her appointment: "I am delighted to be joining Immunocore at this exciting time. I have been impressed by the quality of the science and unique and broad application of ImmTACs in cancer. I look forward to working with the Immunocore team and to establishing strategically important collaborations."
Contact
Margaret Henry
PR Consultant
Immunocore Ltd, UK
T: + 44 (0) 1865 261491
M: + 44 (0) 7771 377363
About Immunocore
Founded in 2008, Immunocore Ltd is a privately-owned, clinical-stage, biotechnology company, developing a highly innovative platform technology that generates novel drugs called ImmTACs for the treatment of cancer and viral infection. Immunocore traces its roots to Avidex Ltd, founded in 1999 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford to develop novel T Cell Receptor technology invented by the founder and chief scientist, Dr Bent Jakobsen. Avidex was acquired in 2006 by the German biotechnology company, MediGene AG and, following a strategic review in 2008, MediGene AG elected to focus on development of its late stage assets and divest its preclinical assets. In 2008, Immunocore was formed to take over the TCR technology, with investment from a consortium including MediGene, and develop biological therapeutics. A sister company, Adaptimmune Ltd, was established independently to develop adoptive therapy from the same technology platform.
Immunocore has over 50 staff and is located in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
About ImmTACs
Immunocore's ImmTAC technology enables the immune system to recognise and kill cancer or viral cells.
T Cell Receptors naturally recognise diseased cells and Immunocore's competitive advantage is its ability to engineer high affinity T Cell Receptors and link them to an antibody fragment, anti-CD3, which can activate the immune system to kill the targeted cancer or viral cells. These bifunctional molecules, called ImmTACS, have the potential to be very potent anti-cancer or anti-viral agents.
Immunocore has completed development of the ImmTAC technology, including the generation of a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant, fully scalable manufacture route. The company has also established regulatory pathways approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) that will form the basis of all future ImmTAC programmes.
The most advanced ImmTAC drug, IMCgp100, is currently in clinical trials in melanoma patients in both the US and UK.
For more information: http://www.immunocore.com