Novo's Wagtmann joins Innate as chief scientific officer

Innate Pharma has appointed former Novo Nordisk VP Dr Nicolai Wagtmann as chief scientific officer.

Dr Wagtmann was VP R&D and head of inflammation biology at Denmark-based Novo and will apply this experience in his new role, which will focus on leading Innate's research into immunotherapies for cancer and inflammatory diseases.

He is familiar with Innate through its collaboration with Novo on immunotherapies, including IPH2201, a monoclonal antibody targeting NKG2A in development to treat patients with inflammatory conditions.

"My team at Novo Nordisk has enjoyed very productive interactions with Innate Pharma during a multi-year research collaboration which resulted in three first-in-class therapeutic antibodies undergoing clinical development,” said Dr Wagtmann.

“I now look forward to leading this excellent team to broaden and grow this unique platform.”

Dr Wagtmann replaces Innate's co-founder Francois Romagne as chief scientific officer. Dr Romagne is to lead CIMTECH, a new immuno-technology platform at Aix-Marseille University, which Innate co-founded.

Dr Romagne is to keep his connection to Innate, and will later join Innate's scientific advisory board.

“Francois was decisive in building the Company and its portfolio of first-in-class antibodies,” said Innate's CEO Herve Brailly.

“The changes we are announcing today are an important step for Innate Pharma and also for the structuring and development of Marseille-Immunopole, confirming its world-class status as a collaborative ecosystem in immunology".