VERAXA Biotech AG (NASDAQ: VRXA) announced the appointment of Christoph Erkel, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer, effective immediately. Erkel, who previously served as vice president of research and development, will lead the advancement of the company’s proprietary BiTAC(R) platform technologies for the development of cancer therapies targeting solid tumors. He succeeds Rick Austin, Ph.D., who will depart following a transition period.
Erkel brings two decades of experience in antibody therapeutics, antibody engineering and preclinical development, including prior leadership roles at MorphoSys AG, where he led immuno-oncology programs focused on T-cell engagers. VERAXA said his experience managing multidisciplinary research programs will support efforts to expand the company’s oncology pipeline and advance BiTAC(R) candidates toward clinical development. The appointment comes as VERAXA focuses on its BiTAC platform, which is designed to create bispecific T-cell engagers and antibody-drug conjugates for solid tumors.
VERAXA Biotech is building a premier engine for the discovery and development of next-generation antibody-based therapeutics, including bispecific T-cell engagers, bispecific ADCs and other innovative formats. Powered by a suite of transformative technologies and guided by rigorous quality-by-design principles, the company is rapidly advancing its pipeline of ADCs and proprietary BiTAC formats into clinical development and beyond. VERAXA was founded on scientific breakthroughs made at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), a world-renowned institution known for pioneering life science research and cutting-edge technology.
The full press release is available at https://nnw.fm/cR1RS. For the latest news and updates relating to VRXA, visit the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/VRXA.
Certain statements in this article are forward-looking, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and may not be indicative of future results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, various factors beyond management's control, including the risks set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" discussed under the caption "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Part I of the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or any updates discussed under the caption "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Part II of the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in the Company's other filings with the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this article in making an investment decision, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof. All parties undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law.
