Chimeric Therapeutics (ASX:CHM), an Australian drug development company focused on novel CAR T cell therapies for solid tumours, has announced the appointment of Cindy Elkins as a non-executive director.
The company's CLTX-CAR T therapy, which uses a peptide derived from scorpion toxin to direct T cells to target glioblastoma, is currently being studied in a phase one clinical trial.
Ms Elkins previously served as executive vice president and chief information officer at Juno Therapeutics. The company is one of the global pioneers in CAR T technology.
Juno was acquired by Celgene in 2018. Celgene was then acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2019.
Before joining Juno, Ms Elkins was vice president of Pharma Informatics at Genentech (Roche). In this role, she led a team of over 900 people in 12 countries across the Americas.
Ms Elkins sat on the board of directors and audit committee for global wellness and weight loss company Weight Watchers for five years and is currently board chair of The Foundation for Art and Healing whose signature initiative is The UnLonely Project.
Chimeric’s executive chairman, Paul Hopper, said, “Cindy is an outstanding addition to Chimeric’s board of directors. Her long and successful career with renowned pharma businesses, specifically in the CAR T sector, will prove invaluable as we look to develop and commercialise our CLTX-CAR T asset.”