Adaptimmune has appointed former PwC partner Lawrence (Larry) Alleva to its board of directors as an independent, non-executive director.
Alleva will also serve as chairman of the Oxford, UK-based clinical-stage biotechnology company’s board audit committee.
Commenting on his new role he said: “I am very pleased to be joining Adaptimmune at this interesting time, and I look forward to working closely with the team as we aim to build the company up with the expansion of its UK and US operations.”
Alleva spent 39 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), until his retirement in 2010, and served in a variety of office, regional and national practice leadership roles, most recently as the US ethics and compliance leader for the firm’s Assurance Practice from 2006.
He currently serves as a director for public companies Tesaro and Bright Horizons Family Solutions, and for the privately-held Mirna Therapeutics, and chairs those companies’ audit committees.
Dr Jonathan Knowles, chairman of Adaptimmune, said: “I am delighted that such a high caliber individual as Larry Alleva has agreed to join our board of directors.
“His substantial corporate finance and accounting expertise, combined with his extensive experience of supporting growing biotech firms, brings significant added value to the company, and complements the skills and experience of our other board members.”
Alleva’s appointment follows a brace of recent senior hires that saw Adaptimmune recruit a new chief medical officer and chief financial officer.