Cell Medica announces appointment of Nigel Burns, PhD as Chairman
Published: July 30, 2008, midnight in Press releasesCell Medica has today announced the appointment of Nigel Burns, PhD as Chairman of the Company.
London, UK – 30th July 2008: Cell Medica, a clinical stage cellular therapeutics company targeting infectious diseases in immunosuppressed patients, has today announced the appointment of Nigel Burns, PhD as Chairman of the Company.
With over twenty years of experience in the biotech industry, most recently as a senior executive of Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), Dr Burns brings a wealth of experience and industry contacts to Cell Medica. In addition to chairing the Board, Dr Burns will assist Cell Medica in its commercialisation and production scale-up plans to support the clinical use of T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of human diseases.
Dr Burns’s experience in the biotechnology field includes nine years (1997 – 2006) as part of the Senior Management Team at CAT, initially as Senior Vice President of Preclinical Development. In this role he built and managed CAT’s capabilities to link their platform technology to clinical trials and established and chaired the company’s pipeline management committee. In 2004, he took on the role of Senior Vice President responsible for strategic alliances, and was involved in developing the relationship with AstraZeneca which acquired CAT in 2006 for $1.7 billion.
Previous to his career at CAT, Dr Burns was with British Biotech (now part of Vernalis) where he headed the Process Technology Division and played a significant role in developing its biotechnology-based products. Prior to this, he held scholarships at the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India and at the California Institute of Technology. Dr Burns also acts as an advisor to companies, venture capitalists and governments in connection with biotech ventures and projects.
Gregg Sando, founder and CEO of Cell Medica, said “We are very fortunate to have someone with such a depth of experience and contacts joining Cell Medica at this critical time in the Company’s development. Nigel has the hands-on business experience to help guide Cell Medica through our commercialisation strategy for T cell immunotherapy.”
Nigel Burns commented on his appointment: “I have enjoyed participating in the development of the biotech industry over a period when biological molecules, particularly antibodies, moved from being a research concept to a mainstream medical treatment. I am convinced that cellular therapeutics represent the next important phase in the treatment of human disease and look forward to helping Cell Medica become a market leader in this field.”
Notes to Editors:
About Cell Medica
Cell Medica is a clinical stage cellular therapeutics company engaged in the development and delivery of cellular immunotherapy treatment strategies for infectious disease. The Company’s lead clinical application involves the transfer of donor-derived virus-specific T cells into a patient in order to prevent infections following allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell (bone marrow) transplant.
The clinical application of this innovative form of cell therapy has been pioneered by members of Cell Medica’s Scientific Advisory Team and several exploratory clinical studies in humans have shown that the technique can be used in a safe manner and with strong evidence of efficacy. The Company was founded in 2006 to convert this cell therapy into a cost effective and convenient medical treatment. In addition to developing new applications, Cell Medica provides cell processing/production services for hospitals wishing to put immunotherapy techniques into routine clinical practice for the treatment of patients.
The Wellcome Trust has awarded Cell Medica with a Technology Translation Award and the shareholders of Cell Medica include Imperial Innovations, a group of private investors and the founder/CEO Gregg Sando.
Further more information, please contact:
Gregg Sando, CEO, Cell Medica Limited
info@cellmedica.co.uk 020 7554 4070
- Date
- 30th July 2008