New COO appointed at X4 Pharmaceuticals
pharmafile | June 13, 2016 | Appointment | Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing |
X4 Pharmaceuticals has announced the appointment of John K. Celebi as its new chief operating officer.
Celebi will bring over 20 years of industry experience to the clinical stage biotech company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He will take over Alison Lawton, who served as interim COO, and will remain a strategic advisor to the company as a member of X4’s corporate advisory board.
The company is in the process of developing novel CXCR4 inhibitor drugs to improve immune cell trafficking and increase the ability for T-cells to track and destroy cancer.
As COO, Celebi will lead the company’s business development, operations and corporate development efforts. President and CEO, Paula Ragan, says: “John has a tremendous knowledge-base for evolving an emerging biotech company across the range of critical business capabilities, including operations, business development and commercial planning.
“His experience will be essential to achieving X4’s mission of developing novel CXCR4 therapies that have the potential to make a significant impact in the cancer treatment landscape, and we look forward to tapping into his business-building expertise as we continue to pursue the development of X4P-001 and our portfolio of CXCR4 inhibitors.”
Most recently, Celebi held the role of chief business officer of Igenica Biotherapeutics. Prior to that, he held roles at biotech company, ArQule, and Cyclis Pharmaceuticals.
He comments: “X4 is an exciting company with innovative technology for enhancing the adaptive immune response coupled with a clinical-stage program that has the potential to improve treatment outcomes for diseases, including cancer, with limited treatment options. X4’s novel approach leverages transformational advances in cancer drug development, therapeutically unleashing the immune system to treat cancer. I am thrilled to join X4 and its effort to bring innovative CXCR4 cancer therapies to improve the lives of cancer patients.”
