A recognised expert in antibody-based therapeutic development and manufacturing with >18 years of drug discovery & development experience across both small Biotech and large Pharma –

BiVictriX Therapeutics plc (AIM: BVX), an emerging biotechnology company applying a novel approach to develop next generation cancer therapies using insights derived from frontline clinical experience, today announces the appointment of Dr Oliver Schon as Vice President of Product Development and Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (‘CMC’). In addition, Mr James Griffin, a joint PhD student between University of Liverpool (‘UoL’) and BiVictriX, has been appointed as part of a Medical Research Council (‘MRC’)-lead doctoral training programme.

Dr Schon obtained his PhD in Cancer Research from The University of Cambridge and completed his postdoc research in the laboratory of Nobel Prize laureate Sir Gregory Paul Winter, FRS. He has worked in cancer research for 20 years, starting his career in 2003 as one of the initial domain antibody scientists at Sir Winter’s company Domantis Ltd, which was acquired by GlaxoSmithKlein (‘GSK’) three years later. Thereafter Dr Schon continued to work at GSK for over ten years until he joined cancer-focussed biotech Agenus, where he amassed considerable CMC and antibody-based therapeutics manufacturing experience, developing therapeutic antibodies for large pharma from discovery to the Investigational New Drug (IND) stage.

Tiffany Thorn, Chief Executive of BiVictriX Therapeutics plc, commented: “I’m pleased that BiVictriX has been able to attract an executive of Oliver’s calibre which is testament to the growing interest in our Bi-Cygni® therapeutics platform which aims to leverage clinical experience to develop a class of highly selective, next generation cancer therapeutics. Oliver’s long career in cancer research, most recently leading teams in antibody-based therapeutics development and manufacturing, will be invaluable as we build our internal capabilities, progress our lead asset BVX001 and expand our pipeline.”

Dr Oliver Schon, VP of Product Development and CMC, said: “I am joining BiVictriX at a formative time as the Company prepares to progress lead optimisation of BVX001 to reach key preclinical milestones on efficacy and safety following a successful listing on London’s AIM market last month. I look forward to working with Tiffany and the growing team, unlocking the full potential of next generation biologics and contributing to the development of the next wave of precision cancer medicines.”

Mr Griffin will study as an MRC Discovery Medicine North iCASE Doctoral Training Programme Postgraduate Research Student and will carry out research in an academia-industry partnership. The doctoral training scheme is fully-funded by the MRC, with opportunities for Mr Griffin to support the BiVictriX drug development objectives at UoL and onsite at the Company. This enables BiVictriX to expand its existing collaboration with the UoL, providing specialist access and expertise to expand the Company’s use of state-of-the-art techniques, including assessing UoL’s Mass CyTOF facility, which will be pivotal in the Company’s ongoing activities to identify and validate further proprietary cancer-specific twin antigen fingerprints.