French biopharmaceutical company Cellectis has appointed Rainer Boehm and Hervé Hoppenot to its board of directors to provide strategic advice on drug commercialisation.
Boehm spent 29 years serving Novartis working in various senior management, marketing, sales, and medical affairs roles, and his expertise spans from leadership and development to business model solutions.
He said: “I am honoured to join the board and look forward to providing strategic advice to strengthen Cellectis’ market leading position. I see exciting opportunities for Cellectis to address unmet medical needs and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
“What Cellectis is accomplishing is transformative and we have the potential to move the needle forward for healthcare in a positive way.”
Hervé Hoppenot also joins the board of directors. He has served at Delaware, US-based Incyte Corporation for the past three years as its president and chief executive officer, and was appointed chairman of its board of directors in 2015.
He said: “Despite many advances in oncology, there remains a need to continue to advance the science to meet the needs of its patients.
“Through its work in developing CAR-T immunotherapies, Cellectis has an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the treatment of cancer.
“I am excited to be joining the Cellectis board during this important time of growth.”
Prior to joining Incyte, Hoppenot was the president of Novartis Oncology and has several senior roles with with Aventis – formerly Rhone Poulenc and now part of Sanofi – including vice president of oncology and head of the US oncology business unit.
André Choulika, chief executive officer of Cellectis, said: “We are delighted to welcome Rainer Boehm and Hervé Hoppenot to our board.
“Rainer’s experience in drug commercialisation will be invaluable as we work to develop the next generation CAR T-cell immunotherapies.
“Hervé brings deep expertise in oncology which will be a major benefit to our team as we continue to innovate to bring UCART product candidates to the clinic.
“With these two esteemed leaders, we are adding to the expertise of our board of directors to help guide Cellectis into our next phase.”