VERAXA Biotech AG (NASDAQ: VRXA) announced the appointment of Christoph Erkel, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer, effective immediately. Erkel, previously vice president of research and development at the company, will lead advancement of VERAXA'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 includes bispecific T cell engagers, bispecific ADCs and other innovative antibody formats. The company was founded on scientific breakthroughs made at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and aims to build a premier engine for the discovery and development of next-generation antibody-based therapeutics.
For more details, the full press release is available at https://nnw.fm/cR1RS. Forward-looking statements and disclaimers apply; see the IBN website at http://IBN.fm/Disclaimer and the company's newsroom at https://ibn.fm/VRXA.
