Crescendo Biologics appoints Dr Peter Pack as chief exec
pharmafile | October 15, 2015 | Appointment | Business Services, Research and Development |
Crescendo Biologics has announced the appointment of Dr Peter Pack as chief executive, who will oversee the company’s new drug development strategy.
Crescendo will now focus on oncology with novel VH-based checkpoint modulators and HDC (Humabody Drug Conjugate) therapeutics.
The company’s fast-growing pipeline is based on its Humabody VH Technology. Humabodies combine the VH format of minimal size with the power of transgenic mouse technology – the gold standard in antibody therapeutics development – which confers the substantial benefits of in vivo maturation.
As a result, Humabodies have excellent potency and druggability, including superior CMC properties for drug development. They are 100% human and represent the smallest possible immunoglobulin fragments offering a range of plug & play options for generating novel multi-specific biologics. Humabodies therefore have the potential to establish a valuable new class of therapeutics.
With Dr Pack’s appointment, Crescendo is now expanding its oncology pipeline by targeting a range of cancer indications where Humabodies have the potential to deliver high-value therapeutics to patients where there is substantial unmet need.
Dr Pack has 23 years of corporate experience in the Life Science industry, including 14 years in chief executive and managing director-level positions at product-oriented, international life science companies. Further background information is included below.
Graziano Seghezzi, non-executive director of Crescendo Biologics, says: “Crescendo has established a pre-eminent position in its human VH technology and has rapidly transitioned into a drug discovery and development company. Peter’s appointment is the first step of the company’s new strategy of developing new oncology therapeutics through in-house development and strategic partnerships. The features of our technology – minimal size, in vivo maturation and druggability – are well suited for our plans in the field of oncology.”
Dr Peter Pack comments: “The transition to a product-oriented oncology therapeutics company is a pivotal moment in Crescendo’s corporate development. In my view, Crescendo’s in vivo maturation technology for 100% human VHs with excellent affinities, expression yields and plug & play options is superior to anything that has been done before. It was the main attraction for recommending investment when I was a partner at EMBL Ventures.”
He adds: “We plan to advance the development of new and innovative therapeutics compounds in the area of oncology including immune-oncology, the new primary focus of the work at Crescendo. We intend to expand rapidly our internal oncology programmes on checkpoint modulators and HDCs, which are a novel alternative to antibody drug conjugates.”
