Nouscom Appoints Leading Cancer Drug Development Expert, Neil Gallagher, MD, PhD, as Independent Advisor to its Board and Chair of its R&D Committee
May 14 2024 - 3:00AM
Dr. Gallagher, current President of
R&D at Syndax Pharmaceuticals and former Chief Medical Officer
and Head of Development at AbbVie, brings significant experience of
end-to-end development that has resulted in the approval of
multiple innovative medicines
BASEL, Switzerland –
14th May 2024 - Nouscom,
a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing off-the-shelf
and personalized viral vector-based cancer vaccines targeting
neoantigens, announces today that Neil Gallagher, MD, PhD, has been
appointed as an Independent Advisor to Nouscom’s Board of Directors
and will also Chair the Company’s R&D Committee.
Dr. Gallagher’s leadership will be essential in
guiding Nouscom’s clinical development strategy and activities as
it advances its wholly owned clinical pipeline through multiple
clinical proof of concept readouts.
Dr. Gallagher has over 20 years of experience
within large, global pharmaceutical R&D organizations and
emerging biopharmaceutical companies. Throughout his career, he has
led end-to-end drug development programs that have resulted in the
approval of multiple innovative medicines, ranging from small
molecules to biologics across several therapeutic areas, including
oncology and immunology.
Since April 2023, he has served as President of
R&D at Syndax Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage oncology
company developing targeted first-in-class cancer therapies. Prior
to this, he led multiple development programs through approval
globally and oversaw asset strategy and portfolio management across
several therapeutic areas as Chief Medical Officer and Head of
Development at AbbVie. Other roles include Head of Global Oncology
Development at AbbVie, Head of Development for Oncology and
Inflammation at Amgen, and Global Program Head at Novartis
Oncology. He has also held clinical development roles at
AstraZeneca and Astex Therapeutics.
Before entering the industry, Dr. Gallagher
received his medical degree from Trinity College, Dublin, and
completed his Fellowship in Gynaecological Oncology at the
Institute for Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham, UK.
Dr. Marina Udier, Chief Executive
Officer of Nouscom, commented, “We are thrilled to welcome
Neil as Independent Advisor to our Board and Chair of our R&D
Committee. His extensive experience and leadership in clinical drug
development and registration will provide invaluable insights that
will allow us to further accelerate progress across our clinical
portfolio of neoantigen-based cancer vaccines, including an ongoing
randomized Phase 2 trial of NOUS-209 in MSI colorectal cancer.”
Dr. Goran Ando, Independent Chair of
Nouscom’s Board, said, “Together with the
experience of our existing Board Members, I look forward to Neil’s
contributions as Nouscom reports multiple clinical trial readouts
and navigates the next exciting steps in its growth.”
Dr. Neil Gallagher added, “I am
truly excited to be working with Nouscom’s Board and management and
look forward to sharing my knowledge and expertise to guide and
support the development of its clinical pipeline. Nouscom’s
dedication to generating safe, innovative, and potent
next-generation cancer immunotherapies that selectively eliminate
tumor cells and pre-cancerous lesions could be potentially
life-changing for patients and I look forward to helping the
Company achieve this.”
Ends
About Nouscom
Nouscom is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology
company developing next-generation, off-the-shelf and personalized
cancer immunotherapies. Nouscom’s proprietary viral vector platform
has the capacity to encode for large payloads of neoantigens or
other immunomodulators and clinically demonstrated to safely and
potently harness the power of the immune system.
Nouscom is currently advancing the clinical
development of its wholly owned programs:
- NOUS-209, an off-the-shelf cancer
immunotherapy for the treatment of MSI solid tumors in combination
with pembrolizumab in randomized Phase 2 trials.
- NOUS-209, an off-the-shelf
monotherapy in Lynch Syndrome carriers with the potential to
‘intercept cancer’ before it occurs. A Phase 1b is being conducted
under a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement signed in
2022 with the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
- NOUS-PEV, a personalized cancer
immunotherapy, is expected to enter randomized Phase 2 trials in
indications with high unmet medical need in 2024.
Nouscom has also exclusively out-licensed
VAC-85135, an off-the-shelf immunotherapy developed under a
multi-project agreement, which is currently under evaluation in a
Phase 1 trial for the treatment of Myeloproliferative Neoplasms
sponsored by Janssen Research & Development and Bristol Myers
Squibb.
For more information on Nouscom, please visit
the company’s website at www.nouscom.com or follow us on
LinkedIn.
Contacts
NouscomRick Davis, COOE : info@nouscom.com T
: +41 61 201 1835 |
MEDiSTRAVA Sylvie Berrebi, Mark Swallow E :
nouscom@medistrava.comT : +44 (0)203 928 6900 |