Geneos Announces Expansion of Leadership Team

--Company Bolsters Management Team in Advance of Phase 2 Data Announcement and Preparations for Potential Registrational Clinical Trial-- 

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Oct. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Geneos Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development of personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines (PTCV), today announced that the company has expanded its leadership team and has elected Dr. Laurent Humeau to the company's board of directors.

"As we approach an important clinical data announcement from our ongoing trial of GT-30 for hepatocellular carcinoma at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Conference in November, we're bolstering our team to set the stage for advanced clinical development of our PTCV products," stated Dr. Niranjan Y. Sardesai, president and chief executive officer of Geneos. "We're pleased to have promoted stellar team members from within and are also grateful for the group of industry professionals who have joined Geneos, not the least of whom is Dr. Humeau, who brings significant relevant experience to our board of directors. I am inspired by the strong group of leaders we now have in place as we advance our promising products toward registration."

Laurent Humeau, Ph.D. currently serves as chief scientific officer at INOVIO Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Humeau is a leading expert in the development of nucleic acid medicines and their delivery via viral and non-viral methods. He has published over 65 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious scientific journals spanning the development of infectious disease and cancer therapeutics. His team led the development of INOVIO's CELLECTRA® 3PSP intradermal delivery device and the DNA based biological products in support of their Covid 19 vaccine program, currently in Phase 3 clinical development worldwide. He brings device related scientific, analytical, manufacturing, and regulatory expertise to the Geneos Board as Geneos prepares for later stage clinical development of its PTCV programs. Geneos has licensed the CELLECTRA® devices from Inovio exclusively for delivery of its personalized therapeutic cancer vaccine products.

Joann Peters, MHA, has been promoted to chief operating officer. Ms. Peters joined Geneos in 2019 as VP of clinical operations bringing with her 19 years of early- and late-stage oncology clinical operations experience at leading CROs to drive Geneos' clinical programs efficiently. With her expanded leadership role, Ms. Peters now leads all facets of Geneos' clinical and business operations, providing oversight to clinical trials and implementing operational strategy and structure.

Jian Yan, PhD, has joined Geneos as vice president, research and discovery. Dr. Yan brings over 15 years of experience in leading preclinical research programs for the development of novel immunotherapies, most recently having served as vice president, design and product development at NEUVOGEN. She has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and is an inventor on over 60 patents related to innovative vaccines and antibody claims. She was recognized as one of the "Top 20 Translational Researchers" for 2016 and 2018 by Nature Biotechnology.

Myrna Thomas, MS, CPGP, has been promoted to vice president, quality assurance and manufacturing. Ms. Thomas' extensive interactions with FDA, as well as in-depth knowledge of manufacturing strategy and regulatory expectations, support the further growth of Geneos.

Federica O'Brien will continue in the role of consulting chief financial officer. Ms. O'Brien brings a wealth of experience as a trusted strategic and financial advisor to the leadership teams of growing biopharmaceutical companies as well as serving as a board member and audit committee chairperson. Ms. O'Brien is president of CFO'Brien Consulting, LLC.

David Wurtman, MD, MBA, joins Geneos as consulting chief business officer. Dr. Wurtman brings extensive biopharma senior leadership experience and is overseeing business development and partnering and providing counsel on corporate strategy, product development and positioning strategies. He served most recently as CEO of Lyric Pharmaceuticals and CMO of Lucid Diagnostics and has advised over 25 companies in all aspects of corporate development.

Geneos Therapeutics, a privately held, clinical stage biotherapeutics company, believes that personalized therapies are the future of cancer treatment. The company is developing personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines (PTCV) to unleash the most powerful force against cancer – a patient's own immune system. The company's approach, using its proprietary GT-EPIC™ platform, is to target unique neoantigens (abnormal mutations produced by cancer cells) from individual patient tumors to develop novel and personalized treatments for cancer. Geneos has an experienced management team with a track record of success in building immunotherapy-based companies. For more information, please visit www.geneostx.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our business, including our plans regarding the development of personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines, our expectations regarding our research and development programs, including the planned expansion and conduct of clinical trials and the availability and timing of data from those trials, and the use of our capital resources. Actual events or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein. There can be no assurance that any product candidate in Geneos' pipeline will be successfully developed, manufactured or commercialized, that final results of clinical trials will be supportive of regulatory approvals required to market licensed products, or that any of the forward-looking information provided herein will be proven accurate. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, and Geneos undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law. 

SOURCE Geneos Therapeutics, Inc.