Diaccurate introduces its world-leading Scientific Advisory Board
- 6 independent world-renowned experts in the fields of immunology, immunotherapy and oncology
- Chaired by Professor Tasuku HONJO, 2018 NOBEL PRIZE in Physiology or Medicine
DIACCURATE, a French biotechnology company that develops sole-in-class therapeutics in immunotherapy, oncology and infectiology today announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Composed of 6 independent world-leading experts in the fields of basic and translational immunology, lipid metabolism, oncology and immunotherapy DIACCURATE’s SAB is chaired by Professor Tasuku HONJO, Kyoto University’s Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS), awarded by the 2018 NOBEL PRIZE in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of "immune checkpoint inhibitors", a key step in the history of cancerology.
Dr. Dominique Bridon, CEO of DIACCURATE, commented: "We feel honored to have gathered this world-renowned group of experts in our newly formed Scientific Advisory Board around Prof. Jacques THÈZE, CSO and Scientific co-Founder of DIACCURATE”. He added: “We look forward to building on their exceptional knowledge and complementary experience in immunology, immunotherapy and oncology to progress our highly original and ambitious pipeline towards the clinic.”
“Cancer treatment has seen a revolution in immunotherapy. Extensive research to which my lab has contributed has brought to light the importance of cytotoxic CD8 T cells in the antitumor immune response, giving rise to current immune checkpoint inhibitors. But the role of CD4 T cells in this response had so far remained overlooked”, said Prof. Tasuku HONJO, Deputy Director-General of KUIAS and Chairman of DIACCURATE’s SAB. He explained: “Recent findings have demonstrated the key contribution of CD4 T cells to clinical efficacy of PD-L1/PD-1 blockade therapies.The developments undertaken at DIACCURATE to boost CD4 T cells functionality could represent a major step towards improving immunotherapy.”
Prof. Christoph HUBER, co-founder of the mRNA vaccine pioneer BioNTech, board member of the International Association of Cancer Immunotherapy and member of DIACCURATE’s SAB, added: “As we have seen once again with the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines are an unvaluable immunotherapy tool to prevent and treat diseases that affect the immune system. It has been well known for over a century in the field of infectious diseases, it is also becoming an evidence in the field of oncology, and strategies like that of DIACCURATE that potentiate CD4 T cells response are expected to further improve the efficacy and the profile of vaccines”.
Dr. Bernard MALISSEN, Founder and Director of the Center for Immunophenomics, team leader and former Director of the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille Luminy and member of DIACCURATE’s SAB, concluded: “Intricate biological networks control physiological and pathologic processes and revolve around biological switches. By integrating incoming signals and determining the downstream pathways that need to be activated, they constitute key “decision makers”. DIACCURATE has laid solid foundations to take on the challenge of targeting such biological switches, which are of tremendous importance in various pathological contexts, including cancer and infectious diseases”.