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, will lead 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 other innovative antibody-based therapeutics. The company leverages a suite of transformative technologies and quality-by-design principles to advance its pipeline of ADCs and proprietary BiTAC formats into clinical development. VERAXA was founded on scientific breakthroughs made at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).
For more details, the full press release is available at https://nnw.fm/cR1RS. Additional information and updates about VERAXA can be found in the company's newsroom at http://nnw.fm/VRXA.
