Opsona Therapeutics appoints chief medical officer

Chief executive steps down for personal reasons

Opsona Therapeutics, based in Dublin, Ireland, has appointed Leon Hooftman as chief medical officer. Dr Hooftman was formerly CMO at Chroma Therapeutics (UK). Prior to this he was head of clinical development at Celltech (UK). Hooftman has also worked for Hoffmann La-Roche and Syntex.

Chief executive Dr Mark Heffernan has stepped down for personal reasons but will remain as a non-executive board member. Bernd Seizinger has been appointed executive chairman and will oversee the search for a new ceo and assume additional responsibilities for the company's operations during this period.

To further strengthen the executive management team, one of the company's founding scientists and directors, Professor Luke O'Neill will assume the additional role of chief scientific officer.

Opsona's vp of pharmaceutical development, Mary Reilly, has taken a broader role within the company as vice president of pharmaceutical development and operations.

You may also like

Research & Development

Opsona Therapeutics wins EC research grant of €5.9m

For the clinical development of lead drug candidate OPN-305
Research & Development

Scientists develop new technique to fight antimicrobial resistance

The team of researchers from the University of Leicester have developed a new technique to sequence phage genomes from individual plaques and hopes to use it to build fully characterised libraries of bacteriophages, expanding the number of candidates available to tackle drug-resistant infections
Research & Development

Lancet Oncology Commission launches to examine future of academic cancer clinical trials amid funding and regulatory pressures

A global coalition of clinical investigators and patient representatives has launched the Lancet Oncology Commission to address the value and challenges of independent academic cancer clinical trials, amid growing concerns over regulatory complexity, limited public funding and the need for new international collaboration models
You need to be a subscriber to read this article.
Click here to find out more.
Regulatory

UK clinical trial reforms come into force in largest regulatory overhaul in 20 years

The MHRA and Health Research Authority are implementing the most significant package of clinical trial regulatory reforms in more than two decades, introducing faster assessment routes for lower-risk trials and mandatory registration of trial results
Research & Development

Epitopea receives MHRA approval for first-in-human trial of RNA vaccine for ovarian cancer

The company has received regulatory approval from the MHRA and Regional Ethics Committee to initiate its OVACT Phase I/Ib clinical trial of CryptiVax-1001, an off-the-shelf mRNA immunotherapy targeting high-grade serous ovarian cancer
Research & Development

NEUVIOR Pharmaceuticals receives Innovate UK grant to explore bio-based materials for circular pharmaceutical manufacturing

The Innovate UK feasibility grant will advance its ZYLON programme, which involves clean-chemistry lab trials exploring how bio-derived materials could replace harder-to-recycle packaging formats and reduce waste in pharmaceutical manufacturing
Research & Development

Awen Oncology secures seven-figure funding to advance rare bone cancer therapeutic programme

The cancer therapeutics company has secured seven-figure funding led by biotech investor Dr Urs Spitz to progress its lead programme targeting a rare form of bone cancer with potential broader oncology applications towards clinical development
Subscribe now