BOSTON, Aug. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNSE), an immunotherapy company focused on the discovery and development of next generation therapeutics for cancer, today announced the appointment of Kristian Humer, former managing director of Banking, Capital Markets & Advisory for the Global Healthcare team at Citigroup, Inc. as an independent director to the company’s board of directors, effective July 30, 2021.
Mr. Humer is currently chief financial officer and chief business officer of Viridian Therapeutics, which he joined in July 2021 after 11 years with Citigroup where he helped lead the firm’s investment banking engagements for small and mid-sized biopharma and select large cap pharmaceutical companies.
“We are delighted to welcome Kristian to our board of directors. He brings global financial and transactional expertise and will provide critical guidance as we scale Sensei over the next few years,” said John Celebi, president and chief executive officer of Sensei Biotherapeutics. “During our IPO in February of this year, we gained first-hand insight into Kristian’s expertise and engagement level, and we are confident that his more than a decade-long track record in life science investment banking will be invaluable as we continue to mature as a public company.”
“Sensei’s leadership team and board of directors is an impressive group of scientific, medical and industry leaders. I’m thrilled to work with this exceptional team and to support Sensei through its growth phase as a differentiated and leading immuno-oncology company,” said Mr. Humer.
Mr. Humer spent 20 years on Wall Street, including 14 years as a life science-focused investment banker. Prior to joining Citigroup, Inc., Mr. Humer served as vice president of the Investment Banking Division for the Global Healthcare Group team at Lehman Brothers, Inc. Mr. Humer started his career serving positions of increasing responsibility in the investment banking and private banking divisions of UBS AG and Merrill Lynch (a Bank of America company). He received an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, and a B.A. (Hons) in Accounting & Economics from the University of Reading, United Kingdom.
About Sensei Biotherapeutics
Sensei Biotherapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in discovery, development, and delivery of next generation immunotherapies with an initial focus on treatments for cancer. Sensei has developed two unique approaches – its ImmunoPhage platform that leverages bacteriophage to fully engage the immune system, and its TMAb (Tumor Microenvironment Active Biologics) platform comprising unique human monoclonal antibodies and alpaca derived nanobodies that are selectively active in the tumor microenvironment. Using the ImmunoPhage platform, Sensei is developing a library of ImmunoPhage called Phortress™ to target multiple tumor-associated antigens to create a personalized, yet off-the-shelf cocktail approach for treating cancer patients. The platform is designed to enable efficient, scalable and cost-effective manufacturing to support all of Sensei’s clinical programs. SNS-401-NG is an ImmunoPhage cocktail in preclinical development for the treatment of Merkel Cell Carcinoma. Using its TMAb platform, the company has developed SNS-VISTA, an antibody-based therapeutic in lead generation targeting an immune checkpoint gene that inhibits anti-tumor immune responses called V-domain Ig suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA). For more information, please visit www.senseibio.com, and follow the company on Twitter @SenseiBio and LinkedIn.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by words such as “believe”, “expect”, “may”, “plan”, “potential”, “will”, and similar expressions, and are based on Sensei’s current beliefs and expectations. These forward-looking statements include expectations regarding the development and potential benefits of Sensei’s product candidates and platforms and Sensei’s future growth. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially include uncertainties inherent in the development of therapeutic product candidates, such as preclinical discovery and development, conduct of clinical trials and related regulatory requirements, Sensei’s reliance on third parties over which it may not always have full control, and other risks and uncertainties that are described in Sensei’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 30, 2021 and Sensei’s other Periodic Reports filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on information available to Sensei as of the date of this release, and Sensei assumes no obligation to, and does not intend to, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor Contact:
Lora Pike
VP, Investor Relations and Communications
Sensei Biotherapeutics
lpike@senseibio.com
Media Contact:
Mike Beyer
Sam Brown Inc. Healthcare Communications
312-961-2502
mikebeyer@sambrown.com