About Immodulon

Immodulon is a private, late-stage clinical company developing IMM-101, a novel broad spectrum immunomodulator. IMM-101 induces a broad immune response, modulating the innate and adaptive immune systems with a potential to complement existing therapies, including targeted immunotherapies and cytotoxics. IMM-101 has the potential to work in difficult-to-treat tumours, including those that have been considered immunologically ‘cold’.

Immodulon has generated promising phase II data with IMM-101 in first line patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in combination with gemcitabine. These data show that IMM-101 is well-tolerated and effective, with the potential to prolong progression-free survival for patients compared to gemcitabine alone.  The data also suggest a beneficial effect on survival in patients with metastatic disease.

Immodulon is planning to advance IMM-101 in a pivotal study in metastatic PDAC (mPDAC) patients. The study will evaluate IMM-101 combined with the current standard of care Gemcitabine/Nab-Paclitaxel versus Gemcitabine/Nab-Paclitaxel alone. The study aims to demonstrate improved median OS in elderly patients with mPDAC and in younger patients for whom a FOLFIRINOX regimen is not suitable, due to significant adverse side effects.

Immodulon is led by a new, highly experienced and successful management team, who have previously held senior global roles at companies including Celgene, Amgen and ADC Therapeutics.

 

Leadership Team

Immodulon is led by a new, highly experienced, and successful management team, who have previously held senior global roles at companies including Celgene, Amgen and ADC Therapeutics. This team is focused on realising the significant potential of IMM-101 in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC), a difficult-to-treat cancer with few effective treatment options.

Gertjan Bartlema

Gertjan Bartlema

Chief Executive Officer

About Gertjan

Gertjan is a global biotech leader with over 25 years’ industry experience in finance, business development and operations. Most recently, Gertjan was CEO of VICO Therapeutics BV, a privately held Netherlands based company. Prior to VICO, Gertjan spent 12 years at Celgene where he started as part of their initial European management team Based in Switzerland. As a member of their New Jersey based corporate business development team, he played a key role in the acquisition of Abraxis BioScience, adding Abraxane to Celgene’s portfolio. He started his career at Amgen and over a 9 year period held various roles at their European (Switzerland) and corporate headquarters in the U.S.

Gertjan holds a MSc in Economics from Maastricht University, Netherlands.

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Peter Greaney

Chief Business Officer

About Peter

Peter is a highly experienced business development executive, with over 20 years’ international industry expertise. Previously, Peter served as Head of Corporate Development at ADC Therapeutics where he played an integral role transforming the company from a private R&D biotech to a NYSE listed public biotech with a commercial therapeutic product. Prior to ADC Therapeutics, Peter spent 12 years at Celgene in a number of roles of increasing responsibility in Switzerland and the US across medical, commercial and business development and played a key role integrating Abraxane into the Celgene portfolio. Peter began his career as a Preclinical Senior Scientist at Apoxis.

Peter holds a BSc in Cell Biology from the University of East Anglia and a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Nottingham.

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Josefine Roemmler-Zehrer

Chief Medical Officer

About Josefine

Josefine brings significant experience in drug development and medical affairs to Immodulon having held senior leadership roles at leading pharmaceutical companies including Celgene, Amgen and Ipsen. Josefine has a proven track record of success in several product development programmes including Celgene’s Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) in pancreatic cancer and NSCLC and Ipsen’s Cabometyx in renal cell carcinoma and thyroid cancer. She has led multi-disciplinary teams in a range of therapeutic areas including Oncology, Inflammation, Rheumatology, Dermatology, Neurology and Rare diseases.

Josefine started her medical training at the Semmelweis Egyetem University in Budapest and at the University of Julius Maximilians University Wurzburg, Germany, were she received her board certification in Human Medicine. After this she began her career at the University of Munich where she acquired her specialisation in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Diabetes and her postdoctoral lecture qualification.

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Richard Couch

Chief Technology Officer

About Richard

Richard brings over 30 years’ pharmaceutical experience across regulatory, drug development and commercialisation to Immodulon. He spent 15 years at Celgene, most recently as Vice President, Global Regulatory CMC before founding R3LS, a CMC consultancy. At Celgene, Richard built and led the Global Regulatory CMC group responsible for developing and implementing CMC strategies for small molecules, biologics and cell therapies. During his time, he oversaw the development of 20 clinical compounds from Phase 1 clinical development through to commercialisation.

Richard started his career at Merck & Co., Inc in Analytical & Quality Services before transitioning to a regulatory CMC position. He holds an MSc in Chemistry from Lehigh University and a BSc in Chemistry from Ohio University.

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Owen Vaughan

Chief Regulatory Officer

About Owen

Owen is a highly experienced regulatory affairs leader with over 30 years’ global experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Owen has led regulatory teams across all phases of clinical development and has a proven track record in obtaining and expanding marketing authorisations for multiple new therapeutics. He joins Immodulon from 4D Pharma where he served as Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & Quality Assurance. Owen has also held senior regulatory roles at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Taiho Oncology, Celgene and Johnson and Johnson.

Owen began his career as a Research Scientist. He holds a PhD and BSc in Chemistry from Imperial College London and holds a diploma in regulatory affairs from the University of Wales, Cardiff.

Board of Directors

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Richard Davies

Chairman of the Board

About Richard
Richard has over 30 years’ pharmaceutical industry experience and currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors for Alvotech. Most recently, Richard was CEO of Auregen and prior to this he served as CEO of BONESUPPORT AB, a Scandinavian orthobiologics company, and Chief Commercial Officer of Hospira, a medical device company acquired by Pfizer. Additionally, Richard spent 9 years at Amgen in increasingly senior management roles across various geographies having begun his career at Eli Lilly. Richard holds a BSc in Applied Chemistry from the University of Portsmouth and an MBA from the University of Warwick.
Immodulon Anthony Bolton

Anthony Bolton

Director

About Anthony
Anthony joined the Board of Immodulon in 2015 bringing his extensive business expertise to the company. Prior to this, Anthony worked at Fidelity International, who he joined in 1979 and where he managed several Fidelity funds including the Fidelity Special Situations which he ran for 28 years up to 2007. During this time the fund became the largest unit trust in the UK and achieved annual growth of almost 20%. More recently, he wrote an investment book called ‘Investing Against the Tide’ and also managed Fidelity China Special Situations PLC whilst based in Hong Kong for 4 years. Although he retired from fund management in 2014 he remains a board member and adviser at Fidelity International as well as a trustee of its charitable foundations.
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Joey Mason

Director

About Joey
Joey has spent his career in healthcare founding, investing in and directing entrepreneurial businesses across Europe and the USA. He has served as Director or Observer on 20 private and public boards in the US and Europe since 1994. Currently focusing on investing in the digitalisation of the life sciences sector, he co-founded Duplex Capital Partners in 2021. He also serves on the board of Axial3D Ltd, which uses AI to create 3D medical images from 2D files for virtual surgical planning and printed models. Prior to Duplex Capital Partners, Joey built the team and made strategic investments in the life science tools and enabling technologies sector at M Ventures, the €230 million biotechnology fund of Merck KGaA. From 2004 – 2014 he led healthcare investments at the VC firm Delta Partners, after having co-founded and exited a women’s health internet business. He also served as Vice-chairman and Treasurer of InvestEurope (formerly EVCA). A medical graduate from Trinity College, Dublin, Joey’s early career was spent in investment banking at Morgan Stanley International and Technomark Consulting in London, followed by 5 years at Biotrin plc, a biotechnology company in Dublin.
Immodulon Sir Simon Robertson

Sir Simon Robertson

Director

About Simon
Sir Simon joined the Immodulon Board in 2015. He has an extensive background in international corporate advisory work and experience in mergers and acquisitions and financial markets. He is the founding member of Simon Robertson Associates LLP; a non-executive Director of Evercore Inc., and Troy Asset Management and of the Royal Opera House Endowment Fund. Sir Simon’s previous roles include deputy Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc; non-executive Chairman of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc; non-executive director of the Economist Newspaper Ltd and Berry Bros & Rudd Limited, Director of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Limited; Managing Director of Goldman Sachs International, Chairman of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and a trustee of the Eden Project Trust. He was knighted in the 2010 Queen’s birthday honours list in recognition of his services to business. He also became an “Officier” de la Légion d’Honneur in 2014.
Dr. Selwyn Ho

Dr Selwyn Ho

Director

About Dr Selwyn Ho
Dr. Selwyn Ho currently serves as Chief Executive Officer at Medigene AG, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology biotech developing innovative immunotherapies such as T cell receptor-modified T cells (TCR Ts) or dendritic cell (DC) vaccines to treat cancer in fields of high medical need. Prior to Medigene, Dr. Ho served as Chief Business Officer at Connect Biopharma, a global clinical-stage biotech company focused on improving the lives of patients living with T cell-driven chronic inflammatory diseases, where he led Corporate Development, Business Development & Licensing, Investor Relations, Medical Affairs and Early Commercialisation activities. He is also Founder & Managing Director of Artemis Catalyst, a management consultancy that provides strategic advisory services to biotech, biopharma, and private markets firms as well as an Executive in Residence for New Rhein Healthcare Investors, a venture capital firm that applies a private equity business model to life sciences venture capital investing. Prior to his own consulting firm, he held senior positions in several biotech (Dermira Inc.) and biopharmaceutical corporations (UCB, Allergan), leading Global, Regional, and Country teams in product development, corporate and product strategy, and commercialization of multiple medicines. Dr. Ho received his medical degree (MB BS) and Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Pharmacology from Imperial College, University of London.
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Gertjan Bartlema

Chief Executive Officer

About Gertjan

Gertjan is a global biotech leader with over 25 years’ industry experience in finance, business development and operations. Most recently, Gertjan was CEO of VICO Therapeutics BV, a privately held Netherlands based company. Prior to VICO, Gertjan spent 12 years at Celgene where he started as part of their initial European management team Based in Switzerland. As a member of their New Jersey based corporate business development team, he played a key role in the acquisition of Abraxis BioScience, adding Abraxane to Celgene’s portfolio. He started his career at Amgen and over a 9 year period held various roles at their European (Switzerland) and corporate headquarters in the U.S.

Gertjan holds a MSc in Economics from Maastricht University, Netherlands.

Industry Advisors

 

Dr Jean Pierre Bizzari
Dr. Bizzari began working in the pharmaceutical industry in 1983 as Head of Oncology at the Institut de Recherches Internationales SERVIER (France). From 1993 to 2002 he served as Vice President, Clinical Development Oncology at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer (Aventis- Sanofi-Aventis). From 2002 until 2008, Dr. Bizzari was the Vice President of Clinical Oncology Development at Sanofi-Aventis where he oversaw the approval of a number of drugs including Eloxatin®, Taxotere® and Elitek®.

Between 2008 to 2015 he was the executive vice president at Celgene in charge of clinical development and was in charge of Revlimid, Pomalist and Abraxane. Dr. Bizzari is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of France’s National Cancer Institute and Netrix Pharma, and serves on the board of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., Pieris, Oxford Bio Therapeutics, and Transgene SA. Dr. Bizzari received his medical degree from the University of Nice (France).

He is a specialist in oncology, having trained at La Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, followed by training at the Ontario Cancer Institute and McGill Cancer Center. He was appointed in June 2015 to the Board of EORTC located in Brussels and elected Chairman of the New Drug Advisory Committee. He was appointed to the Immodulon Board in 2016.

Thorsten Sperber

Thorsten is a biopharma executive and industry veteran with a wealth of knowledge and almost 30 years of broad biotech expertise. “We before me” is the underlying principle that has become the guard rail of Thorsten’s career and business acumen. Thorsten has served as the Global Head Medical Affairs at Immunomedics Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey, where he successfully built the global medical affairs structure of the company. Prior to Immunomedics, Thorsten served at Celgene Corporation for almost 13 years in various national and international roles, such as Executive Director US Medical Affairs and Disease Lead Multiple Myeloma and Director Oncology.

Before joining Celgene, Thorsten was the marketing lead for dasatinib (Sprycel®) at BMS in Germany, and served AMGEN for 10 years in multiple roles in Hematology, Oncology and HIV. Throughout his career, Thorsten was directly involved in the successful launches of multiple blockbuster drugs, including but not limited to Neupogen®, Aranesp®, MabCampath®, Zevalin®, Sprycel®, Revlimid®, Vidaza®, Abraxane®, and Trodelvy™, in multiple indications in both hematology and oncology, and in various markets.

Thorsten holds a Master of Science in Molecular Biology with honors, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology, studied histology, molecular biology and microbial genetics at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, USA, and is a certified organizational change manager of V.iT. GmbH, Germany.
He holds a certificate in Strategic Management for Executives of the St. Galler Business School, Switzerland.

Dr Kevin Lynch

Kevin is driven by developing transformative medicines for patients.

He has lived and worked in Australia, Asia, UK and Switzerland, operating in both small, start-up environments as well as large, multi-nationals.

Kevin was Chief Medical Expert during Antengene’s formative years and then through a period of extreme growth as Chief Medical Officer. He supervised their broad clinical program with Xpovio (Selinexor) in Asia-Pacific, as well as extensive program of early development compounds.

During his 11 years at Celgene Kevin was closely involved in the successful clinical development and registration of Revlimid (lenalidomide), Pomalyst (pomalidomide), Vidaza (azacitidine), Onureg (oral azacitidine) and Idhifa (enasidinib).

During his 10 years with Novartis, as one of the inaugural Oncology Medical Directors for the company, he played a key role in the development and approvals of multiple transformative drugs including Glivec (imatinib), Tasigna (nilotinib), Zometa (zoledronic acid), Femara (letrozole) and Exjade (deferasirox).

Kevin graduated with a MB, BS and B Med Sci from the University of Tasmania in Australia. Following his Dip Pharm Med and Membership by thesis on the development of cytostatic agents in cancer, he was elected a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the UK in 2004.