Crescendo Biologics, developer of multi-functional Humabody therapeutics, has appointed Philip Bland-Ward as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).
With more than 20 years’ experience in the biopharmaceuticals industry, Bland-Ward has played a key role in the development of novel antibody therapeutics in multiple disease areas.
He joins Crescendo from Kymab, where he was responsible for leading its most advanced development programme. Bland-Ward previously held senior positions at Cambridge Antibody Technology and PanGenetics and was CSO at Navion, as well as a co-founder of Nascient.
His experience with late stage, pre-clinical development programmes, including novel antibody drug candidates, complements Crescendo’s current in-house expertise as a provider of novel immuno-oncology products with enhanced therapeutic potential.
Bland-Ward’s role as CSO will be to drive Crescendo’s immuno-oncology (IO) and Humabody Drug Conjugate (HDC) programmes to clinical proof-of-concept.
Bland-Ward began his career working on pain and migraine research at the Glaxo Institute of Applied Pharmacology and then at GlaxoWellcome.
He joined Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) to lead antibody projects in neuroscience, metabolic diseases, and ophthalmology.
He was Director of Oncology Biology at CAT before moving to PanGenetics to successfully lead the development of their antibody assets (pain, auto-immune disease), underpinning progression to Phase I clinical studies.
Subsequently Bland-Ward took roles as CSO of Navion (oncology) and SweetSpot Therapeutics, and co-founded Nascient (inflammatory disease) - all small companies focused on discovery and development of antibody therapeutics.
Prior to joining Crescendo, Bland-Ward was a VP at Kymab with particular responsibility for the scientific leadership of their most advanced development programme.
Bland-Ward holds a BPharm degree in pharmacy and a PhD in pharmacology, both from King’s College London.
Developments for the future
“Throughout the past 24 months, Crescendo has transitioned from a technology platform company to a developer of Humabody therapeutics,” said Peter Pack, CEO of Crescendo Biologics.
“We have created a rich internal pipeline of differentiated, multi-functional biologics with a focus on oncology. Our growing reputation is also leading to external collaborations and licensing deals with big pharma, such the recent deal signed with Takeda.”
“Our aim now is to advance our programmes rapidly to the next stage of clinical development. Phil’s experience in the field of biologics development will be key to achieving this.”
Bland-Ward added: “The IO field has been a key focus for biotech companies in the last few years. The Company has produced a pipeline of multi-functional biological candidates with exciting new modes-of-action and huge therapeutic potential.”
