Cell Medica, developer, manufacture and marketing of personalised cellular immunotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer, has appointed Chris Nowers as CEO and executive Director. His appointment follows founder Gregg Sando’s decision to step down as CEO and Director of the company and is effective 1 August 2018.
Nowers joins Cell Medica from the cancer immunotherapy company Kite Pharma, where he was Head of Europe and responsible for the full commercialisation of the CAR-T therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel.
At Kite he built the European organisation from the ground up and post the $12 billion acquisition by Gilead Sciences in 2017, was subsequently responsible for the continued expansion of the Kite organisation within the Europe, Middle East and Africa structure.
Previous to his role at Kite, he has had a career spanning more than 25 years in the biopharma industry. He has held a number of senior leadership roles that included CEO of Avantogen Oncology, General Management roles at Amgen, and senior global and regional commercial leadership roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). Whilst at BMS, he built and led teams that delivered the successful launches of the checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab and nivolumab.
Sando, a pioneer in the field of cellular immunotherapy, established Cell Medica in 2006 and led the company’s transition into the CAR-T technology space. The upcoming initiation of clinical trials investigating CAR-modified cell therapy products will mark an important new chapter in the company’s development. He will assist over the coming months in transitioning to new senior leadership.
Chris Nowers, said: “Cell Medica has an exciting array of technologies that will help unlock the potential of personalised cellular immunotherapies for both blood cancers and solid tumours. I look forward to working with the Company’s talented executive and scientific teams to take these promising treatments to patients through clinical development.”
