CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — GC Therapeutics has appointed stem cell therapy executive Stefan Irion, MD, as chief scientific officer as the biotechnology company advances its cell therapy pipeline toward clinical development.
Irion will lead the company’s research strategy and help guide development of its cell-based medicines. GC Therapeutics, also known as GCTx, is developing therapies through its TFome induced pluripotent stem cell programming platform, which is designed to support cell therapy, in vivo reprogramming and rejuvenation applications.
The company said Irion brings more than two decades of experience translating stem cell science into clinical-stage therapeutics. His appointment follows the recent addition of Kate Haviland as board chair. GCTx also said co-founder Alex Ng, PhD, will become chief innovation officer, where he will support the continued development of the company’s TFome platform, Cell State Cookbook and virtual cell models.
Irion most recently served as chief scientific officer and a member of the executive committee at BlueRock Therapeutics, a wholly owned, independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG. At BlueRock, he led a research organization of about 60 scientists developing cell and gene therapies across multiple therapeutic areas.
Before joining BlueRock, Irion worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he helped develop MSK-DA01, also known as bemdaneprocel, a pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neuron therapy for Parkinson’s disease. He served as lead author on the investigational new drug application package and helped guide the program through out-licensing to BlueRock and subsequent IND clearance.
The therapy has completed a Phase 1 clinical trial, received Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy and Fast Track designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and has begun enrollment in a registrational Phase 3 study.
Earlier in his career, Irion led discovery work at iPierian that produced the anti-tau antibody IPN0007, contributing to Bristol-Myers Squibb’s $725 million acquisition of the company in 2014.
“We are thrilled to welcome Stefan to our leadership team,” said Parastoo Khoshakhlagh, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of GCTx. “Stefan brings deep expertise in developing novel therapeutics, along with exceptional leadership and an innovative perspective. His strong commitment to patients makes him uniquely suited to help drive GCTx’s next phase of growth. We are confident he will have a meaningful impact on our mission to make cell therapy accessible to patients around the world and to unlock the TFome™ platform capabilities into rejuvenation and in vivo reprogramming.”
Irion is a named inventor on multiple patents in stem cell engineering and cell therapy. His research has appeared in journals including Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Cell Stem Cell and Nature Communications. He received his medical degree summa cum laude from the University of Tübingen in Germany and completed postdoctoral training at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the University Health Network in Toronto.
“Having spent my career working to bring cell therapies from bench to bedside, I’ve seen how much is still possible; and how many patients are still waiting,” said Dr. Irion. “TFome™ opens a new chapter in how we control cell fate and design therapies, giving us a level of precision, scale and flexibility that simply wasn’t available before. The Cell State Cookbook™ and virtual cell models not only accelerate what we already know how to do; they expand what’s imaginable, from next-generation cell therapies to in vivo reprogramming and rejuvenation approaches that could address diseases we’ve barely been able to touch. I’m thrilled to join a team that is turning that potential into treatments, and to help make sure more patients benefit sooner.”
GC Therapeutics said Irion’s appointment supports its efforts to advance innovative cell therapies and broaden access for patients.
