Former Solvay CEO Werner Cautreels has taken the reins at Selecta Biosciences, a Watertown, MA-based developer of synthetic nanoparticle vaccines and immunotherapies. Cautreels was CEO at Solvay when the company was acquired by Abbott Labs for $6.6 billion earlier this year.
Selecta is using self-assembled nanoparticles that can better resemble a virus, a process scientists believe can trigger a more potent immune response. The company announced earlier this year that it raised about $15 million--enough cash to see the company into 2012 and obtain proof-of-concept data on a lead program.
"I envision Selecta's technology to unlock novel treatment approaches in high unmet medical need areas beginning with our synthetic vaccine product candidates using the tSVP nanoparticle technology and potentially expanding into other immunotherapies developed as proprietary compounds and in collaboration with partners," Cautreels explains in a statement.
Selecta also announced that it has garnered a $3 million grant from the NIH's National Institute of Drug Abuse to develop a nicotine vaccine for cigarette addiction, according to Xconomy.
- see Selecta's release
- read the Xconomy story for more