HOUSTON, June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — NKILT Therapeutics, a new biotech company committed to the development of novel natural killer (NK) cell therapies, announced today the appointment to their Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of Saar Gill, MD, PhD, as Chairman and Maksim Mamonkin, PhD, as scientific advisor.
“Today’s appointment of two world-class cell therapy experts to our SAB illustrates our commitment to building a team of accomplished and highly respected scientific experts to support our goal of developing and delivering life-saving therapies to patients with cancer. The incredible contributions to the field from Dr. Gill and Dr. Mamonkin ideally position them to help shape the clinical development strategies of our novel allogeneic Chimeric ILT-Receptor (CIR)-NK cells,” said Raphaël G. Ognar, President, CEO, and Co-founder of NKILT Therapeutics.
- Chairman Saar Gill, MD, PhD – Dr. Gill is Associate Professor of Medicine in the division of hematology-oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. He trained in clinical hematology in his native Australia, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. Since 2011, he has been working on developing genetically engineered immune cells for the treatment of cancer. Dr. Gill is a physician-scientist who places a strong emphasis on translational research; concepts developed in his laboratory have already led to several clinical trials for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. He specializes in the treatment of patients with leukemia and in bone marrow transplantation, and he has led clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for chronic and acute leukemias. As his research laboratory focuses on the interface between adoptive cellular therapy and genetic engineering, Dr. Gill is a foremost innovator in the cell and gene therapy space as evidenced by his status as one of the most prolific patent inventors in the field globally and his creation of two biotherapeutics companies: Carisma Therapeutics, developer of macrophage-based cellular therapeutics, and Interius BioTherapeutics, focused on in vivo delivery of gene therapies.
- SAB Member Maksim Mamonkin, PhD – Dr. Mamonkin is Associate Professor of Pathology and Immunology at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine. He received his PhD and postdoctoral training from Baylor College of Medicine, where he is leading a team focused on preclinical, manufacturing and translational development of highly innovative engineered T-cell therapies for hematologic malignancies and alloimmunity. His research resulted in four academic and industry-sponsored Phase 1 clinical trials in leukemia and lymphoma as well as multiple patents licensed to biotech companies. Dr. Mamonkin is known for bringing creative thinking and deep immunology skills in the field of cell therapy. He is a co-founder and CSO of March Biosciences, a clinical-stage CAR-T company, and is a recipient of the 2023 Outstanding New Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.
“We are excited and privileged to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Gill and Dr. Mamonkin to enhance our drug discovery capabilities and bring our novel CIR technology through the drug development process to work to tackle acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and numerous solid tumors with high unmet medical needs,” said Henri Bayle, PhD, CTO/CDO and Co-founder of NKILT Therapeutics. “Their expertise and insights will help expand our pipeline of potential NK cell therapies and advance our clinical development with a goal to bring additional options for cancer patients,” added Simon Wain-Hobson, PhD, CSO and Co-founder of NKILT Therapeutics.
About NKILT Therapeutics
NKILT Therapeutics, Inc., is a new biotech developing a novel approach to engineering immune cells, starting with natural killer (NK) cells to directly target leukemias and solid-tumor cancers. Based on the unique proprietary Chimeric ILT-Receptor (CIR) binding technology, NKILT has engineered allogeneic, gene-modified CIR-NK cells to target the HLA-G pathway. This innovative method employs a mechanism that takes advantage of characteristics of HLA-G to drive fit-for-purpose activation in NK cells. The goal with these CIR-NK cells is to improve depth and duration of response with an off-the-shelf cell therapy, providing a more cost-effective option with broader and easier access for more patients with cancer. For more information, visit nkilt.com or follow NKILT Therapeutics on LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
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