Richard Davies, Deputy Chairman of Alvotech, elected as Chairman of the Board
Gertjan Bartlema, formerly at Celgene and Amgen, appointed as Chief Executive Officer
Peter Greaney, formerly at ADC Therapeutics and Celgene, appointed as Chief Business Officer
Appointments add significant industry experience to accelerate development of lead asset IMM-101 and bring it to patients in need of effective therapies
Uxbridge, UK – 10 May2023 – Immodulon, a late-stage clinical company developing a highly differentiated cancer immunotherapy that primes the patient’s own innate immune system, today announces it has elected Richard Davies as Chairman of the Board and appointed Gertjan Bartlema as Chief Executive Officer and Peter Greaney as Chief Business Officer.
This new team brings decades of industry experience from leading global pharmaceutical companies including Celgene, Amgen, Hospira, ADC Therapeutics and Alvotech. Their expertise will be crucial in guiding IMM-101 through late-stage clinical development and maximising its potential for patients.
Richard Davies, Chairman of the Board,said: “I am excited to join Immodulon’s Board of Directors as Chairman at this pivotal time for the company. Immodulon has generated compelling Phase 2 data with IMM-101, which has the potential to make a real impact on the treatment of pancreatic cancer where patients have limited new treatment options. Gertjan and Peter are highly experienced biotech executives and I look forward to supporting them and the Board in realising IMM-101’s true potential, providing a new therapy for patients suffering from pancreatic cancer and maximising the return for investors.”
Gertjan Bartlema, Chief Executive Officer of Immodulon, added: “Having joined the Immodulon Board last year, I am honoured to take on the role of leading the company towards its goal of improving outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer. I am excited to work with the team to accelerate the clinical development of IMM-101 in combination with Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) and gemcitabine. I’m inspired by this opportunity of making a meaningful impact with this potential new treatment regimen for patients suffering from pancreatic cancer.”
Richard Davies
Richard has over 30 years’ pharmaceutical industry experience and is currently Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors for Alvotech. Richard served as CEO of BONESUPPORT AB, a public Scandinavian orthobiologics company, CEO of Auregen SA, a tissue engineering company and Chief Commercial Officer of Hospira, at the time the world’s largest injectable drug manufacturer, subsequently acquired by Pfizer. Additionally, Richard spent 9 years at Amgen in a range of senior management roles across various geographies after beginning his early career at Eli Lilly.
Richard holds a BSc in Applied Chemistry from the University of Portsmouth and an MBA from the University of Warwick.
Gertjan Bartlema
Gertjan is a global biotech leader with over 25 years’ industry experience in finance, business development and operations. Most recently, Gertjan was CEO of VICO Therapeutics BV, a privately held Netherlands-based company. Prior to VICO, Gertjan spent 12 years at Celgene where he started as part of their initial European management team based in Switzerland. As a member of its New Jersey based corporate business development team, he played a key role in the acquisition of Abraxis BioScience, adding Abraxane to Celgene’s portfolio. Gertjan started his career at Amgen and over a 9-year period held various roles at its European (Switzerland) and corporate headquarters in the US.
Gertjan holds an MSc in Economics from Maastricht University, Netherlands.
Peter Greaney, PhD
Peter is a highly experienced business development executive, with over 20 years’ international industry expertise. Previously, Peter served as Head of Corporate Development at ADC Therapeutics where he played an integral role transforming the company from a private R&D biotech to a NYSE-listed public biotech with a commercial therapeutic product. Prior to ADC Therapeutics, Peter spent 12 years at Celgene in a number of roles of increasing responsibility in Switzerland and the US across medical, commercial and business development and played a key role integrating Abraxane into the Celgene portfolio. Peter began his career as a Preclinical Senior Scientist at Apoxis.
Peter holds a BSc in Cell Biology from the University of East Anglia and a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Nottingham.
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Notes to Editors
About Immodulon Therapeutics Ltd Immodulon is a late-stage clinical company developing a highly differentiated cancer immunotherapy approach that primes the patient’s own innate immune system with the aim to significantly enhance the efficacy of a broad range of anti-cancer therapies, including chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors.
Immodulon is developing IMM-101, a heat-killed formulation of the mycobacterium M. obuense, as a broad-spectrum immunomodulatory agent that has promising potential in a range of difficult-to-treat tumours including those considered to be immunologically “cold,” such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Immodulon has generated promising, positive Phase 2 data with IMM-101 in pancreatic cancer in combination with gemcitabine. These data show that IMM-101 is safe and effective, prolonging progression-free survival for a sub-group of patients with metastatic disease compared to gemcitabine alone. IMM-101 is due to enter a pivotal pancreatic cancer study.
