Smart Immune Bolsters Management Team with Medical and Technical Appointments
Dr Frederic Lehmann, MD, appointed Chief Medical Officer
and Dr Pierre Heimendinger, PharmD, appointed Chief Technical Officer
Dr Pierre Heimendinger and Dr Frederic Lehmann, CTO and CMO of Smart Immune.
PARIS, France, September 13, 2022 – Smart Immune SAS, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing ProTcell™, a thymus-empowered T-cell therapy platform to fully and rapidly re-arm the immune system, announced today that it has appointed Dr Frederic Lehmann as Chief Medical Officer and Dr Pierre Heimendinger as Chief Technical Officer. They bring extensive experience and strong industrial track records in the fields of immune-oncology and cell and gene therapy.
Karine Rossignol, PharmD, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Smart Immune, said: "I am thrilled to be expanding our management team with such seasoned and respected executives. Dr Frederic Lehmann and Dr Pierre Heimendinger have both made impressive contributions to the field of allogeneic T-cell medicine, bringing innovation from bench to bedside. Frederic’s experience in clinical trial design and Pierre’s in cell therapy process development will be instrumental in getting the Company ready for the registration phase. I am confident that their knowledge and commitment will raise the development of our ProTcell™ platform to a new level and expedite patient access to our technology. We are excited to welcome them to Smart Immune!"
As the former Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs and Vice President of Celyad Oncology, Dr Frederic Lehmann defined the strategic vision and contributed to securing a number of autologous and allogeneic engineered T-cell therapy IND candidates. He also spent 12 years at GSK in several roles including Head of the Early Clinical Development Business Unit for Cancer Immunotherapeutics in the company’s Vaccine Division. Frederic takes over as Chief Medical Officer from Smart Immune’s Co-founder Marina Cavazzana, MD, PhD, who will transition to the role of Strategic Clinical Development Advisor.
Dr Frederic Lehmann, Chief Medical Officer of Smart Immune, commented: “I am honored to be joining such an outstanding organization and its founding team, true pioneers in T-cell progenitors, to give rise to long-lasting cellular therapy fighting cancer and infection. I strongly believe in Smart Immune’s potential, and I am very pleased to be appointed Chief Medical Officer at this exciting time. I am fully committed to help enable delivery of this unique therapeutic approach to patients with unmet need.”
As Chief Technical Officer, Dr Pierre Heimendinger will oversee the development of Smart Immune’s ProTcell™ platform, most notably ensuring the stability and safety of the ProTcell™ products as they progress through Phase I/II clinical trials. Pierre brings over 30 years of experience in process automation of allogeneic and autologous CAR-Treg, Treg, viral vectors and vaccines. Prior to joining Smart Immune, he held key managerial roles overseeing production, pharmaceutical development and quality control departments at multiple pharma and biotech companies such as Aventis-Pasteur (Sanofi), Octapharma, Transgene, TxCell, and most recently, Sangamo Therapeutics. Pierre holds a PharmD from the Mérieux Institute in France.
Dr Pierre Heimendinger, Chief Technical Officer of Smart Immune, commented: “Smart Immune’s developments in T-cell therapy will be completely transformative to the field as we strive to re-arm the immune system for patients fighting cancer and infection, enabling a truly off-the-shelf approach, and making the ProTcell™ cell therapy accessible for patients when it is needed and wherever it is needed. I am delighted to be working with such a groundbreaking and innovative company at a pivotal time in its growth and development and am thankful to Karine and the rest of the Smart Immune team for such a warm welcome.”
Ends
About Smart Immune
Smart Immune is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing ProTcell™, a thymus-empowered T-cell therapy platform to fully and rapidly re-arm the immune system, enabling next-generation allogeneic T-cell therapies for all. The company was founded in 2017 to help patients with life-threatening diseases such as high-risk blood cancers and primary immunodeficiencies.
Smart Immune’s ProTcell™ platform, which is already in Phase I/II clinical trials, enables the recovery of a complete immune repertoire in patients fighting cancer and infection. ProTcell™ introduces potent, allogeneic T-cell progenitors which are then differentiated by the thymus into fully functional T-cells – an ‘off the shelf’ T-cell medicine.
Smart Immune’s partners include Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and Greater Paris University Hospitals (AP-HP). The company is headquartered at Paris Biotech Santé, 29 rue du Faubourg St Jacques, France.
Media contact:
Consilium Strategic Communications
smartimmune@consilium-comms.com
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