Boston, Mass. — ImmunoScape has appointed Peter Olagunju as Chief Executive Officer as the company prepares to advance its Seed and Boost platform toward clinical development.
ImmunoScape, an A*STAR spin-out backed by Amgen Ventures and EDBI, is developing T-cell receptor-based cancer immunotherapies. Co-founder Michael Fehlings, Ph.D., will continue to lead the company’s scientific and technical strategy as Chief Technology Officer.
“Peter is the rare executive who has done this at every stage: building manufacturing platforms from academic starting points, guiding products through regulatory approval, and running a company from formation through successful outcomes,” said Adrian Bot, M.D., Ph.D., ImmunoScape Board Member and former Chief Scientific Officer of Kite Pharma and Capstan Therapeutics. “As ImmunoScape moves from platform to clinic, that combination of technical depth and operating judgment is precisely what the company needs.”
Olagunju brings more than 20 years of experience in clinical development, manufacturing and technical operations and has contributed to the development of seven approved therapies.
He most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of a Catalio Capital-backed oncology company, which he led from formation through a $14 million seed financing and a corporate transaction.
Olagunju previously held Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer roles at TCR² Therapeutics, where he served as operations lead during the company’s acquisition by Adaptimmune. He has also held senior positions at FerGene and bluebird bio.
ImmunoScape’s Seed and Boost platform is being developed to improve the persistence of engineered T cells in solid tumors and is designed for use across autologous, allogeneic and in vivo delivery approaches.
“Solid tumors have been the hardest problem in cell therapy, and the limiting factor has consistently been persistence — getting engineered T cells to survive and keep working inside the tumor,” Olagunju said. “ImmunoScape’s Seed-and-Boost approach goes directly at that problem, and it does so with a platform that applies across autologous, allogeneic, and in vivo delivery.”
Olagunju said his immediate priority will be working with the company’s partners to advance the platform into the clinic.
ImmunoScape is focused on developing next-generation TCR-based cancer immunotherapies.
