ABOUT LIFT BIOSCIENCES
LIfT Biosciences is now moving into clinic with its unique allogeneic first-in-class neutrophil-based cell therapies using our patented N-LIfT Platform.
LIfT is the only biotech company in the world with a Neutrophil Based Cell Therapy Platform (N-LIfT). The N-LIfT platform is flexible & unique which enables us to produce different types of Immuno-Modulatory Alpha Neutrophils (IMANs) for a wide range of different purposes. Different IMANs can be developed to treat cancers, auto-immune diseases, neurological conditions and anti-microbial resistance.
LIfT has 16 comprehensive patents granted worldwide across 11 families, sourcing, selecting and producing Immunomodulatory Alpha Neutrophils from both HSCs and iPSCs, and covering their product composition. As such, we own the worldwide right to produce neutrophils or myeloid progenitors from healthy donors with cancer killing ability.
“Escape from immune control can be viewed as one of the Hallmarks of Cancer…for elimination there is a requirement for both innate and adaptive immunocompetence”.
Dr Lloyd J. Old
Dr Old is widely considered one of the forefathers of modern immuno-oncology. His pioneering work on immunoediting (elimination, equilibrium, and escape) led to the establishment of LIfT BioSciences
“Targeted therapies often fail because tumours adapt, and they don’t. Our approach shifts the paradigm from cytotoxic persistence for a specific antigen or target on tumour cells to stimulating a comprehensive and lasting immune response in a non-target dependent manner that prevents tumour escape”.
Alex Blyth, CEO & Founder
Alex’s mother and daughter playing shortly before his mother died of pancreatic cancer. Like most cancer patents, she died because of tumour escape from a fixed target therapy. LIfT BioSciences was founded to create a living adaping therapy that prevents tumour escape.
N-LIfT PLATFORM PIPELINE
LIfT BioSciences patented N-LIfT cell therapy platform has the versatility to produce a range of different Immunomodulatory Alpha Neutrophils (IMANs) through a variety of production technologies we have developed.
Our first-generation technology uses Haemopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) to produce IMANs with the source material and capacity to treat millions of patients. Our new second generation production technology now uses induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) with the aim of providing a limitless supply of IMANs even more cost-effectively. We also employ genetic engineering to armour and enhance our IMANs, including using Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) to accelerate IMANs tumour cell activation while retaining their ability to kill off-target cancer cells.
A Differentiated, Risk-Balanced Pipeline In Oncology
Board of Directors
With over 20 years of biotech R&D experience building out drug pipelines and helping drive several multi-billion-dollar companies from start-up, Tony is one of Biotech’s most successful leaders. He is the current CEO of Evox Therapeutics Ltd, and was formerly CSO of Ablynx, Moderna Therapeutics, Alnylam and Tolerx Inc.
Antonin de Fougerolles
Chairman of the Board
Bo Rode Hansen has over two decades of transformational leadership experience involving general management, R&D, BD, financing, IPO and M&A in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He was formerly CEO and President of Scandion Oncology A/S, prior to which he held several senior positions at Genevant Sciences, Roche and Santaris Pharma A/S, where he chaired the R&D Operational Committee. He is currently an Executive Advisor for Argo Bio Studio and acting CEO of Laigo Bio BV.
Dr Bo Rode Hansen PhD, MBA
CDO
Marco Gottardis has over 30 years of experience as a cancer research investigator in both biotech/large pharma and over 35 of years of experience overall in translational cancer research. Former JANSSEN VP of Oncology and Innovation and an expert in Immuno-Oncology where he licensed technologies and established allogenic cell therapy and ADC platforms. Former discovery and early development lead at BMS Oncology. Co-authored over 100 publications and is co-inventor on multiple patents.
Marco Gottardis
Non-Executive Director
Dr. Jarod Rutledge is the Director of Biotechnology and Life Sciences at Starbloom Capital – a stage-agnostic investment firm focused on frontier biotechnology and AI – and the Director of Longevity Research at the Amaranth Foundation – a philanthropic organization for moonshot neuroscience, AI, and longevity research. A recovering academic, Jarod’s research has leveraged AI, multi-omics, and advanced imaging data to build more predictive tools for drug development. His work has been published in Nature, Cell, Science, and featured in global news outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine. He is a co-founder of companies in CNS drug development, molecular diagnostics, and computer vision technology. Jarod received a Ph.D. in Genetics from Stanford University and completed postdoctoral training in AI at Stanford and EMBL Heidelberg.
Jarod Rutledge
Board member
Leadership Team
Alex founded LIfT in 2016 after losing his mother to pancreatic cancer tumour escape. Alex saw a new way to revolutionise cancer treatment, based on a new type of immuno-cell therapy that built on the uncompleted neutrophil infusion work by renown Immunologists, Professor Zheng Cui and the late Dr. Lloyd J. Old the founder of tumour immunology . Alex is a serial entrepreneur, inventor, economist & biologist with 20 years’ experience in disruptive healthcare. Alex helped to bring to market multiple first-in-class biopharma drugs including T-Vec the first oncolytic vaccine, Erbitux the first cancer drug to use a genetic test to guide use and Abraxane, one of the few drugs licensed for pancreatic cancer in the last decade.
Alex Blyth
CEO & Founder
Bo Rode Hansen has over two decades of transformational leadership experience involving general management, R&D, BD, financing, IPO and M&A in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He was formerly CEO and President of Scandion Oncology A/S, prior to which he held several senior positions at Genevant Sciences, Roche and Santaris Pharma A/S, where he chaired the R&D Operational Committee. He is currently an Executive Advisor for Argo Bio Studio and acting CEO of Laigo Bio BV.
Dr Bo Rode Hansen PhD, MBA
CDO
Alfonso Quintás-Cardama is a Hematologist/Medical Oncologist with 25 years’ experience in anticancer agents, and deep experience in developing cellular therapies. His experience includes CMO for TCR² Therapeutics CAR-T platform, Head of Clinical Development in Cell Therapies for GSK and Global Clinical Lead for Kymriah at Novartis where he was instrumental in gaining approval for the world’s first cancer cell therapy. Former fellow at MD Anderson Cancer where he developed multiple cancer therapies that were granted FDA approval.
Dr Alfonso Quintas Cardama
Chief Medical Officer
Mark Exley, Ph.D., is LIfTs Chief Scientific Officer and a Harvard Immunologist with over 30 years' experience. He co-founded NKT Therapeutics and MiNK Therapeutics and is former CSO of Imvax.
Mark has raised $160m+, taken 2 companies to or close to IPO, and published 130+ papers. He serves on top journal editorial boards.
Mark received his B.S. from Imperial College, MS from Kings College and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Cancer Research, all in London, UK. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston.
Dr Mark A. Exley
Chief Scientific Officer
Andrew is a pharmaceutical development and regulatory expert with over 35 years of experience in oncology and cell therapies. He has a wealth of experience at multiple managerial levels within pharmaceutical companies and most recently as Senior Vice President for Quality, Regulatory and CMC, for IO Biotech Limited, gaining significant experience in co-ordinating, planning and running a global development of ATMPs and biologics.
Andrew Willis
Chief Regulatory & Development Officer
Mr. Tabrizi is Managing Director of Pandect Bioventures. Previously, he served as CFO of ShangPharma Innovations. Prior to joining SP Innovation he held executive-level positions in corporate business development at Nektar Therapeutics, and in investor relations and corporate communications roles at Depomed. He also held key positions in healthcare investment banking at Needham & Co., RBC Capital Markets and Merrill Lynch, and served as CFO at Alacritas (Omnicare). In these roles, Mr. Tabrizi led numerous deals spanning the range of royalty monetization, out-licensing and in-licensing, manufacturing and supply, collaborations and partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and public and private financings including roadshows and venture investments.
Mr. Tabrizi holds a bachelor’s degree in molecular genetics from University of California, Davis; a master’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University; and an MBA from the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.
Mohamad Tabrizi
US Chief Financial Officer
Shrikesh is an experienced finance and operations professional with 30 years of experience in senior leadership roles and the last 20 years in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors. He has worked with PE/ VC backed, US and UK listed and owner-managed organisations in both Group and Corporate roles. Shrikesh is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a member of the ICAEW and has an MBA from Imperial College London.
Shrikesh Shah
EVP, Finance & Operations
Key Personnel
Aoife is a skilled cellular immunologist with almost ten years' experience across academic and biotech startup labs. Aoife will be focusing on elucidating the mechanisms of action of Immunomodulatory Alpha Neutrophils in the tumour microenvironment.
Aoife holds a PhD in immunology from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Aoife McGinley
Head of Biology
Dr Patel obtained his Ph.D in viral immunology from Cardiff University, Wales, after which he worked at GammaDelta Therapeutics, using his skills in cell and molecular biology to develop new platforms and gene engineering strategies. He is fascinated by basic scientific discoveries and how they can be translated into novel applications for immunotherapies.
Dr Mihil Patel
Principal Scientist, Cell & Gene Engineering Lead
James is Head of Translational Biology at LIfT BioSciences, where he is responsible for the translational endpoints for the company’s first-in-human neutrophil cell therapy trial. He has over a decade of industry experience spanning oncology, fibrosis, neurodegeneration and cell therapy, including leadership roles small biotech and big Pharma, where he has built and led high-performing preclinical cell biology laboratories and discovery teams. James has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and has extensive experience in translational pharmacology, target validation and mechanistic biology across industry and academia. He holds a PhD in Neuroendocrinology from the University of Bristol, an MSc in Molecular Neuroscience (Bristol) and a BSc in Pharmacology from the University of Southampton.
Dr James Roper
Head of Translational Biology