Asgard Therapeutics appoints immunology expert Shane Olwill as Chief Development Officer

During his thirteen years at Pieris, Shane played a pivotal role developing its diverse pipeline of clinical programs in immuno-oncology and respiratory diseases – progressing nine programs into the clinic. Prior to that he was Director of Research at AIM-listed Fusion Antibodies, building out its research team and establishing its technology platform. With over 60 intellectual property rights to his name, he is a recognized leader in drug development and a regular reviewer for prominent oncology and drug development journals. He holds a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and a PhD in Molecular Hematology from the University of Ulster, UK.

Cristiana Pires, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Asgard Therapeutics, said: "I'm delighted to welcome Shane as Asgard's CDO at this exciting time, as we progress our lead product AT-108 towards clinical trials and transition to a drug development company. Shane's skill set, derived from his extensive experience of pipeline development, particularly in immuno-oncology, is highly complementary to the other members of our team and will be of great benefit as we move forwards."

Shane Olwill, Chief Development Officer of Asgard Therapeutics, said: "Asgard's in vivo cell reprogramming technology, based on the deep research and understanding of its founders, is a potentially transformative new form of cancer immunotherapy that is not only powerful but also indication-agnostic. I'm delighted to be joining the Company, whose science is backed by very strong data and whose team is supported by high calibre investors. I look forward to working to progress AT-108 towards the clinic and maximizing the potential of Asgard's wider platform."

Martin Bonde, Chair of Asgard Therapeutics, said: "Shane will be instrumental as we further progress IND-enabling studies and CMC development for AT-108, to facilitate a seamless transition of the program to the clinic."

Notes to Editors

About Asgard Therapeutics

Asgard Therapeutics is a privately held biotech company pioneering in vivo direct cell reprogramming for cancer immunotherapy. The company builds on ground-breaking and proprietary reprogramming technologies to develop gene therapy products designed to set in motion efficient and personalized immune responses. Backed by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., RV Invest, Novo Holdings, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, and Industrifonden, Asgard Therapeutics aims to establish a pipeline of off-the shelf cancer immunotherapies that trigger personalized anti-cancer immune responses for the benefit of cancer patients in need. For more information, please visit: www.asgardthx.com     

About AT-108

AT-108 is a first-in-class, off-the-shelf gene therapy that directly reprograms tumor cells into a rare subset of dendritic cells critical for mounting efficient cytotoxic T cell responses, cDC1 cells (conventional dendritic cells type 1). Reprogramming forces the tumor cells to present their tumor antigens, ultimately leading to a personalized anti-tumor immune response. It is based on a replication-deficient adenoviral vector that delivers three proprietary reprogramming factors into tumor cells, rewiring their gene expression signatures and thus "programming" them to become antigen-presenting cDC1-like cells.

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