Scancell Holdings PLC (LON:SCLP) has nabbed Dr Cliff Holloway from Benitec Biopharma to be its new chief executive officer, succeeding Dr Richard Goodfellow.
Goodfellow will remain on the board of directors.
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Holloway will seek to drive progress of Scancell's immunotherapy platforms ImmunoBody and Moditope and oversee their commercialisation, the company said.
Holloway was previously chief business and operating officer at Benitec, and before that was chief executive officer of Sienna Cancer Diagnostics.
John Chiplin, executive chairman of Scancell, paid tribute to Goodfellow, saying if it wasn't for his significant achievements, Scancell would not be in the position it's in today.
“We are about to embark on a Phase 2 checkpoint inhibitor combination study with our ImmunoBody vaccine, SCIB1, in melanoma; and our lead Moditope, Modi-1, is progressing rapidly towards the clinic. I would like to thank Richard wholeheartedly for his hard work and substantial contribution to the business, and look forward to continue working alongside him on the board of directors,” Chiplin said.
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Dr Goodfellow said the appointment of Dr Holloway would ensure that Scancell has “a leader with the right mix of skills to guide the company into its next phase of growth”.
“Cliff is an experienced deal maker, which combined with his deep understanding of the science makes him an ideal choice for the job. I have known Cliff for over 10 years and very much look forward to supporting him in his new position," Dr Goodfellow said.
Shares in Scancell were down 1.1% at 12.36p in early deals.