French firm Novasep has appointed Dr François D’Hooge as bioconjugation unit manager.
In his new role, Dr D’Hooge will take charge of Novasep’s new Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC) production facility in Le Mans, France, which is currently being completed.
Novasep began building the €10 million ($11.2m) fully integrated ADC conjugation facility at its Le Mans site last year, in response to increasing market demand for full bio-conjugation services for clinical and future commercial ADCs.
The new facility is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2017.
Dr D’Hooge joins Novasep from Spirogen, an AstraZeneca Group company, where he helped develop a potent and flexible class of ADCs. He has a PhD in organic chemistry and has worked on ADCs since 2011.
'We are delighted to have François onboard, bringing with him years of world-class experience in bioconjugation,' said Thierry Van Nieuwenhove, president of the synthesis business unit at Novasep.
'The new facility in Le Mans allows us to integrate our R&D, analytical and cGMP manufacturing services within a single unit; providing our customers with flexibility, quality assurance and an integrated supply chain.'
Dr D’Hooge’s career in biotech began at Glythera, where he worked on bioconjugation of proteins and polysaccharides.
He then joined Spirogen in November 2011 to launch its ADC operations. During his tenure, he created the bioconjugation/ADC department, where his team generated more than 1,000 different ADCs for PBD payload platform development, proof-of-concept batches and in vivo batches for potency or toxicity evaluation.