Diakonos Oncology Expands Leadership Team with Appointment of Donna Rill as Chief Technology Officer

• Appointment reinforces company's commitment to innovation in cell therapy manufacturing

HOUSTON, Aug. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Diakonos Oncology Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new generation of immunotherapies to treat challenging and aggressive cancers, today announced the appointment of Donna Rill as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). A recognized leader in cellular therapy manufacturing, Ms. Rill brings decades of experience designing and scaling GMP-compliant facilities and translating breakthrough science into robust and scalable manufacturing processes.

Before joining Diakonos, Ms. Rill served as CTO of Triumvira Immunologics, VP of Manufacturing at Cell Medica, and held senior technical and operational roles at Opexa Therapeutics, Baylor College of Medicine, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

"With Donna, we gain an exceptional leader who couples long term vision with operational precision. She has repeatedly converted cutting-edge science into compliant manufacturing at commercial scale, and that expertise is exactly what Diakonos needs as we expand DOC1021 production and accelerate our pipeline toward pivotal trials," said Jay Hartenbach, President and Chief Operating Officer of Diakonos Oncology.

In her prior roles, Ms. Rill was responsible for the design and qualification of cell and gene therapy laboratories using novel technologies, cGMP vector production facilities, core service laboratories, and translational research laboratories. In addition to her construction, project management and regulatory/QA/QC/(c)GxP knowledge, she brings extensive operational and strategic experience in cell and gene therapy, monoclonal antibody production, and protein production.

"Joining Diakonos presents a unique opportunity to work with a highly accomplished leadership team and to help expand the company's manufacturing capabilities," said Donna Rill, Chief Technology Officer of Diakonos Oncology. "There's real momentum behind the science, and I'm looking forward to supporting the scale-up needed to deliver these innovative cell therapies to patients with urgent need."

Under the leadership of Ms. Rill, and in collaboration with Diakonos' CDMO partner, Cellipont Bioservices, Diakonos recently completed the successful manufacturing of the first doses to support the initiation of the Phase 2 clinical trial of DOC1021.

About DOC1021

DOC1021(Dubodencel) is a first-in-class, double-loaded autologous dendritic cell therapy that uniquely combines tumor lysate and amplified tumor-derived mRNA. The immunotherapy is made with a patient's dendritic cells combined with mRNA and proteins prepared from freshly obtained patient tumor specimens.

The unique double loading approach, which mimics a viral infection, unlocks a synergistic and exponentially more powerful tumor killing T_H1 response driven by dual protein and RNA antigen sourcing, and it allows targeting of the complete cancer antigen pool. Moreover, the approach does not require any molecular modification of the patient's immune cells for manufacturing, and does not require preconditioning of bone marrow or high dose IL-2 for administration. DOC1021 allows for a simple administration in the outpatient setting and broad reach via community cancer centers.

In addition to the recently opened Phase 2 GBM study, a clinical trial of Diakonos' DOC1021 is ongoing for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Diakonos has received Fast Track designations from the FDA for both the GBM and pancreatic cancer programs, in October 2023 and May 2024, respectively. The company has also received Orphan Drug Designation for the GBM program in January 2024.

About Diakonos Oncology Corp.

Based in Houston, Diakonos Oncology Corp. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to revolutionizing cancer immunotherapy with its proprietary double-loaded patient-derived dendritic cell therapeutic platform, focused on addressing the critical, unmet medical needs for treatment of late-state and aggressive cancers. For more information visit: https://www.diakonosoncology.com

Media Contact:
David Schull
Russo Partners
858-717-2310
[email protected]

Jay Hartenbach
Diakonos Oncology
[email protected]

SOURCE Diakonos Oncology