Biotechnology company, Neovacs recently added new members to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), in order to assist the company in their mission to provide active immunotherapies to treat autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, Jacques Banchereau, PharmD, Ph.D., was also appointed to the company’s Board of Directors.
The scientific board was established by Neovacs last October, and is comprised of experts in immuno therapy, chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, with the purpose of gathering scientific evidence, as well as promote the company’s visibility in the international market. The new members are welcomed during an exciting time for the company, as Neovacs recently redirected its efforts to pathologies targeted by IFNα-Kinoid and VEGFα-Kinoid.
“The new members of the Scientific Advisory Board bring high-level experience in onco-immunology, neuro-immunology and ophthalmology to Neovacs. We are grateful for their participation and look forward to their expert analysis and guidance regarding our clinical and preclinical portfolio,” said Neovacs’ CEO, Miguel Sieler.
“We are also very proud to announce that Professor Banchereau has agreed to join our Board of Directors. As a Director, Jacques will play an even greater role in the strategic direction of the Company, including the development of Neovacs’ Kinoid technology,” Sieler added, about the current chairman of the SAB. Banchereau, a professor and director of Immunological Sciences, at the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, will continue now combine the duties of the two positions.
The first meeting of the new group is scheduled to take place on February 12, in New York, which will be focused on the company’s Phase IIb clinical trial, designed to evaluate TNF-Kinoid in rheumatoid arthritis. The board will also discuss Neovacs’ pipeline therapy for lupus, IFNα-Kinoid. A second meeting will happen later this year to address the development of VEGF-Kinoid, a preclinical candidate for age-related macular degeneration and solid tumors.
With the new members, the scientific advisory board now includes an investigator and head of the Center for Autoimmune and Musculoskeletal Diseases at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, and professor of Molecular Biology and Medicine at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Betty Diamond, M.D.; a professor of Ophthalmology and Pathology at the University of California at San Diego – La Jolla, Napoleone Ferrara, M.D.; and a professor of Rheumatology at the Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc & Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, Bernard Lauwerys, M.D., Ph.D.
In addition, Steve A. Greenberg, M.D., from the Department of Neurology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital Informatics Program, in Harvard, Miriam Merad, M.D., Ph.D., who is professor of Oncological Sciences and Medicine at the Tisch Cancer Institute at The Mount Sinai Health System, Virginia Pascual, M.D., Ph.D. the director of the Center for Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases at Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, and Laurence Zitvogel, M.D., who serves as research director of INSERM U1015 at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, in France, are also members.
