Dr Jan van de Winkel joins Austrian biotech Hookipa

Austrian biotech Hookipa has appointed its chairman of the board of directors in the form of Dr Jan van de Winkel.

Current president and chief executive officer of Genmab, Dr van de Winkel joins the board with over 25 years’ experience in the therapeutic antibody field.

He said: “I am honoured to take on the role of chairman at this exciting time in the life of this very promising company and I am looking forward to building the company together with its management team and other board members who have done this very successfully before.”

Dr van de Winkel’s career experience has seen him serve Medarex Europe as its vice president and scientific director before co-founding Genmab.

Jorn Aldag, chief executive officer, Hookipa, said: “We are proud to have attracted Jan to join our board of directors as Chairman.

“As Hookipa grows and progresses to become an integrated biotech company with multiple clinical programmes in infectious diseases and immune-oncology, Jan’s experience of building companies and his scientific insight will prove invaluable.”