Cellectis recruits ex-Servier research chief Depil; Arena inks $224M deal on new drugs; JLABS heads to Shanghai; AstraZeneca vet takes Goldfinch helm
→ French CAR-T developer Cellectis has recruited Stéphane Depil, the former R&D chief of Servier, to lead the company’s clinical development. Depil will serve as senior vice president of R&D and chief medical officer. The new appointment brings Depil back to the industry after a break while he directed the cancer immunotherapy program at the Léon Bérard Cancer Center in Lyon, France. But back when he was at Servier, he oversaw 20 cancer programs, several of which were in clinical trials. Cellectis hopes to benefit from Depil’s track record in the field to move its CAR-T assets into the clinic after a rough start involving a patient death. “Stéphane Depil’s deep medical, academic, and clinical regulatory oncology experience – specifically in R&D for all phases within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and clinical research spaces – will be invaluable as he leads Cellectis’ strategy and promotes awareness of the breakthrough work that we are doing as a leader and innovator in the gene-editing field,” said André Choulika, Cellectis’ CEO, in a statement. “His strategic alliance-building, collaboration skills, understanding of the global environment with oncological clinical research, and firsthand experience running a pharma company all add a great degree of ability and depth to our leadership team.”
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