On December 4, 2017 Cellectis (Paris:ALCLS) (NASDAQ:CLLS) (Alternext: ALCLS – Nasdaq: CLLS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunotherapies based on gene-edited allogeneic CAR T-cells (UCART), reported the appointment of Prof. Stéphane Depil, MD, PhD, to the role of Senior Vice President Research & Development and Chief Medical Officer (Press release, Cellectis, DEC 4, 2017, View Source [SID1234522366]). Prof. Depil’s responsibilities include bringing Cellectis’ product candidates to clinical-stage development, strategic and operational management of all therapeutic activities, and supervising research and development projects for the Company. Stéphane Depil will keep academic and research activities as adjunct Professor at Léon Bérard Cancer Center & University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France.
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"Stéphane Depil’s deep medical, academic, and clinical regulatory oncology experience – specifically in R&D for all phases within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and clinical research spaces – will be invaluable as he leads Cellectis’ strategy and promotes awareness of the breakthrough work that we are doing as a leader and innovator in the gene-editing field," said Dr. André Choulika, Cellectis CEO. "His strategic alliance-building, collaboration skills, understanding of the global environment with oncological clinical research, and firsthand experience running a pharma company all add a great degree of ability and depth to our leadership team. This will be tremendously advantageous as Cellectis continues its efforts to cure cancer with our off-the-shelf gene-edited CAR T-cell product candidates."
Prof. Depil is a board-certified physician in hematology, with over 15 years of experience in oncology clinical development, both in hospital / university and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining the Léon Bérard Cancer Center & Cancer Research Center of Lyon, France as Medical Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Program, he served as Chief Executive Officer at Netris Pharma, where he was responsible for the management of an oncology startup and preclinical development of a first-in-class monoclonal antibody in Phase I. Prior to Netris, Stéphane Depil worked at Servier for 8 years in a variety of roles, including Director of Oncology Research and Development, where he managed 20 programs: 5 in the clinic, 7 at late preclinical stages, and 8 at early preclinical stages. He also directly supervised over 100 licensing opportunities.
"As we are at a transformative moment in history with CAR T-cell therapy, Cellectis is harnessing the power of gene editing to improve patients’ lives through the allogeneic approach," added Prof. Depil. "As such, Cellectis is well-positioned to make its mark with the Company’s unique pioneering approach, and I look forward to joining the team at this pivotal time. This is an unprecedented era of biopharmaceutical innovation to develop next-generation therapeutics that will transform patient care as we know it today."