Press Release

10 October 2017

Immunicum AB (publ) Announces Appointment of Sharon Longhurst as Head of CMC

Immunicum AB (publ; First North Premier: IMMU.ST) a biopharmaceutical company advancing a novel, immune-priming cancer treatment against a variety of solid tumors, today announced the appointment of Sharon Longhurst as Head of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC).

Dr. Longhurst comes to Immunicum with over 15 years in leading CMC efforts in small and medium sized organizations. Most recently she served as Senior CMC Manager at Akari Therapeutics in addition to having been a senior pharmaceutical assessor for the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in London. Sharon will replace Karin Hoogendoorn, who has been extended the opportunity to return to academia.

"Sharon's insights on advanced therapy manufacturing and CMC strategy will support Immunicum's proposed plan to develop a commercially-ready CMC process for our lead product candidate, ilixadencel," said Carlos de Sousa, CEO of Immunicum. "We are happy for Karin's new career opportunity and we wish her all the best."

"I am delighted to join Immunicum at this exciting stage of development for ilixadencel," said Sharon Longhurst. "The potential for ilixadencel as an immune system primer in multiple cancer indications is an exciting prospect that could make a tremendous difference to those diagnosed and I very much look forward to contributing to its further success in the clinic by bringing to the company my CMC experience with biological products, in particular manufacturing and regulatory experience with cell based therapy products."

Sharon Longhurst joins Immunicum from her previous position as Senior CMC Manager at Akari Therapeutics, where she was responsible for all aspects of CMC for an innovative biologic product, Coversin, including clinical supply and distribution. Prior to that, Sharon spent 5 years as Principal Consultant of CMC at Parexel Consulting. From 2005-2011, she was a Pharmaceutical Assessor at MHRA in London in the biologics/biotechnology unit and provided national and EU scientific advice for Advance Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) for cell and gene therapy. Sharon graduated from the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK with a PhD in Virology.

 

For more information, please contact:

Carlos de Sousa, CEO, Immunicum
Telephone: +46 (0) 31 41 50 52
E-mail: info@immunicum.com

Investor Relations Sweden

Helena Stångberg
Hallvarsson & Halvarsson
Telephone: + 46 709 71 12 53
E-mail: ir@immuicum.com

Investor and Media Relations EU/US

MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Gretchen Schweitzer or Stephanie May
Telephone: +49 89 2424 3494 or +49 175 5711562
E-mail: ir@immunicum.com 

The Company's Certified Adviser is Redeye AB
Telephone: +46 (0)8 545 013 30
www.redeye.se

 

 

About Immunicum AB (publ) Immunicum is establishing a unique immuno-oncology approach through the development of allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell-based therapies. Our goal is to improve survival outcomes and quality of life by priming the patient's own immune system to fight cancer. The company's lead product ilixadencel, consisting of pro-inflammatory allogeneic dendritic cells, has the potential to become a backbone component of modern cancer combination treatments in a variety of solid tumor indications. Founded and based in Sweden, Immunicum is publicly traded on the Nasdaq First North Premier. www.immunicum.com