Dr. Kai Pinkernell, M.D. joins Glycostem's leadership team as Chief Medical Officer

OSS, Netherlands, April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Glycostem Therapeutics B.V., a leading clinical-stage company focused on the development of therapeutic allogeneic off-the-shelf Natural Killer (NK) cells, today announced that Dr. Kai Pinkernell, M.D. joins Glycostem as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). With a strong background in pharmaceutical clinical development and medical affairs management, Dr. Kai Pinkernell will lead the next steps in the clinical development strategy of Glycostem's lead product oNKord^® (NK) and viveNK^TM (CAR-NK), cell therapies for treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.

Dr. Pinkernell has more than 20 years of experience in the development of cell and gene therapies and 15 years of senior management experience, including clinical development strategies and their execution at globally operating biotechnology companies. In addition, Dr. Pinkernell has expertise in clinical marketing, sales, regulatory affairs, automation and GMP production of cellular therapies. In his previous role he operated as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Development Officer at Medigene AG, and prior to that as Global Head of Clinical Business at Miltenyi Biotec GmbH.

"We are delighted that Kai joins Glycostem's executive management team as CMO," said Troels Jordansen, CEO of Glycostem. "Kai's extensive cellular therapy company background, track record and expertise in drug development and cell therapy in various therapeutic areas will support the focused planning and execution of Glycostem's clinical programs aimed at bringing our innovative NK cell therapies to patients. We believe his strong leadership experience will add significant value to Glycostem, to progress the ongoing phase I/IIa trial of oNKord^® in patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. We look forward for future trial initiations of our second-generation product viveNK^TM for the treatment of solid tumors with Kai."

"I am thrilled to join and to work closely with the talented leadership team at Glycostem", said Dr. Pinkernell. "With its very promising pipeline, which is focused on both CAR-NK and NK therapies, unique manufacturing platform and exciting preclinical and clinical development programs, I believe that Glycostem is well-positioned in its ambition to be the leading innovative NK cell therapy company, covering strong unmet medical needs. I am excited to embark on this journey by joining the Glycostem team and to speed-up the development, clinical testing and market approval of oNKord^® and viveNK^TM."

Dr. Pinkernell received his medical and Doctorate Degree from the Westfälische Wilhelms University of Muenster, Germany and MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.

About Glycostem

Netherlands-based Glycostem Therapeutics B.V., a clinical stage biotech company, developing allogeneic cellular immunotherapies to treat several types of cancer. By harnessing the power of stem cell-derived Natural Killer (NK) cells, Glycostem's products are a safe alternative to CAR-T-cells. Glycostem's lead product, oNKord^®, is manufactured from allogeneic raw material and is available off-the-shelf. Thanks to its nine patent families, longstanding technical expertise and resources, as well as 'Orphan Drug Designation', Glycostem has secured a leadership position in the global NK-cell market with off-the-shelf products.

oNKord^® is produced in a closed system (uNiK^TM) in Glycostem's state-of-the-art and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) licensed production facility in the Netherlands, from which it can be distributed globally. The production technology includes ex vivo generation of high numbers of NK-cells with a high degree of purity for clinical applications. oNKord^® successfully passed phase I clinical trial (elderly and frail AML - Acute Myeloid Leukemia - patients), providing solid safety data and strong indication of clinical activity, including response on MRD (Minimal Residual Disease). A phase I/IIa (pivotal) clinical trial is on-going to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oNKord^® in patients with AML. Glycostem is furthermore developing a range of CAR-NK and TCR-NK products in-house and in cooperation with global partners.

oNKord^® is a registered trademark of Glycostem in the US and Europe. viveNK^TM and uNiK™ are pending trademarks of Glycostem.

Glycostem Therapeutics BV
Troels Jordansen
Tel +31 6 1834 5326
[email protected] 

SOURCE Glycostem