Professor Gillian Griffiths, Dr John Haurum, Dr Jessica Strid and Professor Sally Ward appointed to provide expert advice to progress company’s portfolio of therapeutic antibodies

London, UK, 22nd July 2020: Adaptate Biotherapeutics (Adaptate), a company focussed on developing antibody-based therapeutics for modulation of gamma delta T cells, today announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Professor Adrian Hayday will chair the expert team with other key appointments comprising Professor Gillian Griffiths, Dr John Haurum, Dr Jessica Strid and Professor Sally Ward. The appointment of this highly experienced board marks the next stage of the company’s progression and demonstrates its continued ability to attract a team of field leaders.

Professor Adrian Hayday is a scientific founder of Adaptate and brings with him a lifetime of research experience as one of the leading academics to uncover the unique properties of ?d T cells. Over the course of his career, he has authored over 200 papers and received many awards for this work. Having also co-founded GammaDelta Therapeutics and provided expert advice for many institutions such as Institut Pasteur, the Max Planck Institute and Kyoto University, Professor Hayday is currently Professor of Immunobiology at King’s College London and Assistant Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute.

Professor Hayday is joined by leading experts in areas critical to the future development of Adaptate with each bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the company.

Professor Gillian Griffiths, Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology at the University of Cambridge and former Director of the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, was one of the first to show that cytotoxic T cells have specialised mechanisms of secretion and has gone on to identify the molecular mechanisms that underly such processes. Professor Griffiths is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society.

Dr John Haurum is a Non-executive Director of a number of European biotech companies including Synklino, Neophore, Storm, Agomab, Synact and an advisor to Novo Seeds. As Chief Executive of UK-based F-star, he built a successful biotech company that initiated two clinical trials in oncology and generated more than €200M in non-dilutive revenue.

Dr Jessica Strid is a reader in Cellular Immunology at Imperial College London. She previously worked in Adrian Hayday’s research group at King’s College London and Cancer Research UK and was awarded a Wellcome Trust New Investigator Award, going on to win a prestigious Wellcome Trust Investigator Award in 2019. Her studies focus on immune-surveillance at epithelial body surface tissues and the role of tissue resident immune cells in regulating epithelial cell homeostasis, repair and carcinogenesis.

Professor Sally Ward is currently Professor of Molecular Immunology and Director of Translational Immunology at the University of Southampton’s Centre for Cancer Immunology as well as Vice President of the Antibody Society. From 1990-2020, she was on the faculty at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, followed by Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on a highly interdisciplinary approach to generating effective therapeutics for autoimmunity and cancer which has led to several technologies that are currently in the clinic.

Dr Natalie Mount, CEO of Adaptate Biotherapeutics, said: “Adaptate’s portfolio of therapeutic antibodies harnessing the power of gamma delta T cells represents next generation immunotherapy. The newly appointed SAB will be instrumental in contributing to the company’s unique, targeted approach as we progress to the next phase in our development. We are delighted to welcome such distinguished scientists and antibody developers to our team – their collective experience will be invaluable.”

For further information about Adaptate and its leadership team, please visit: www.adaptate.com