The biotech company, ADCendo, that joined BII’s Creation House program in the summer of 2019 has recently announced a Scientific Business Advisory Board (SBAB)
The company is developing novel cancer treatment for soft-tissue sarcoma (STS), a cancer type occurring many places in the body, as well as for other cancers including glioblastomas, which are found in the brain.
The three members of the SBAB are John Lambert, Vincent de Groot and Murray Yule.
“We were looking for three important things: knowledge of both the detailed history of the ADC field including what is currently stirring. Business experience to help in our lead selection, potential deal-making and shaping of our company profile – and finally, clinical experience specifically in ADCs and soft tissue sarcoma. With the three members, we believe to have covered these competencies extremely well”, says Christoffer F. Nielsen, CTO and co-founder of ADCendo.
Validation of ADCendo
Hervør Lykke Olsen, Senior Scientific Advisor at BII, has worked with ADCendo since the company joined Creation House. She is very impressed and pleased to see ADCendo attract such strong profiles.
“It is a clear validation of ADCendo’s scientific results and development strategy when capacities like John Lambert, Vincent de Groot and Dr. Murray Yule decide to join. It is great news for both ADCendo and BioInnovation Institute to have the SBAB on board”, she says.
The company expects to involve the SBAB in mainly scientific decisions related to lead selection during the first six months of 2020 and by the end of the year bring a shift towards business decisions as the Creation House program ends.
”We overall have a strong scientific profile in the company, but ADCs are complex molecules and it is important to challenge the decisions and conclusions we make. With the acceptance into Creation House, we knew it was time to form an SBAB to also further shape the company”, says Christoffer F. Nielsen.
ADCendo’s Scientific Business Advisory Board
John Lambert is former CSO and executive at ImmunoGen and has a longstanding and well-recognized history in the ADC field. After working in a variety of roles at ImmunoGen, Dr. Lambert served as Chief Scientific Officer from 2008 until 2015. In 2016, he became a Distinguished Research Fellow at the company until his retirement at the end of 2017.
Vincent de Groot has a track record in creating and capturing value, as a biotech entrepreneur, business development executive and transactor. He founded and led the ADC company Syntarga from inception to exit (Trade Sale). Syntarga discovered and developed SYD985, an ADC drug candidate currently in Phase 3 clinical development.
Dr. Murray Yule is a UK certified oncologist trained at Addenbrookes Hospital Cambridge and the Texas Medical Center, with more than eighteen years of experience in the pharma industry and deep experience in translational oncology including ADCs.
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