Transgene Appoints Two Seasoned Leaders in Oncology to Drive its Next Phase of Innovation

                                                                                                                 P R E S S R E LE A SE

Newly appointed CMO, Dr. Emmanuelle Dochy, and newly appointed CSO, Dr. Maurizio Ceppi, bring a strong track record of advancing cancer immunotherapies and precision medicine through clinical development as Transgene progresses its innovative preclinical and clinical pipeline including personalized therapeutic cancer vaccine TG4050.

Strasbourg, France, September 10, 2024, 7 : 30 AM CET – Transgene (Euronext Paris: TNG), a biotech company that designs and develops virus-based immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, is pleased to announce the appointment of two seasoned leaders in oncology who will be instrumental in advancing the company’s innovative immunotherapy programs.Emmanuelle Dochy, MD, is appointed as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), and Maurizio Ceppi, PhD, is appointed as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), effective immediately.

Dr. Dochy, MD, succeeds Dr. Maud Brandely, PhD, as she enters retirement. Dr Dochy will lead the Company’s clinical development efforts including overseeing important upcoming data readouts from Transgene’s portfolio. 

Dr. Ceppi, PhD, succeeds Eric Quéméneur, PharmD, PhD, who is leaving to pursue other interests. Dr. Ceppi’s extensive background in oncology and clinical research positions him to lead scientific innovation at Transgene, focusing on designing and developing novel cancer immunotherapies.

Maud Brandely and Eric Quéméneur will leave Transgene on September 30, 2024. They will work closely with Emmanuelle Dochy and Maurizio Ceppi until their departure. Dr. Brandely will also continue to support Transgene on a consulting basis. 

Alessandro Riva, MD, Chairman and CEO of Transgene,commented: “I am delighted to welcome Emmanuelle as Chief Medical Officer and Maurizio as Chief Scientific Officer at such a pivotal time for Transgene. Their extensive expertise in oncology and proven track records in advancing programs through clinical development, as well as their deep knowledge of precision medicines, make Emmanuelle and Maurizio highly valued additions to our team. We are excited to welcome them as we continue to advance our mission to deliver innovative treatments to cancer patients.

“I would also like to warmly thank Maud and Eric for their dedication during their eight and ten years at Transgene respectively. Their contribution has been critical in designing today’s clinical stage assets and overseeing their development. We wish them all the best for the future and thank them for their contributions to Transgene.”

Biography Dr. Emmanuelle Dochy, MD

Dr. Dochy brings over 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience working in multiple medical affairs roles focused on oncology. Most recently, Dr. Dochy was Vice President of the Global Medical Affairs Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) Oncology Franchise and Scientific Partnerships Head at Bayer, where she was responsible for the development of TKIs in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors from Phase I to Phase III across several indications in oncology. She previously held the role of Global Medical

Head for Stivarga®, a targeted cancer drug, before taking on the responsibility for TKIs. Prior to joining Bayer, Dr. Dochy worked at Sanofi, starting as Medical Manager of Oncology before progressing to Zaltrap Global Medical Director and later promoted to Global Clinical Lead for Late Development Products where she gained experience in post-marketing filing and developing new indications for approved prostate cancer treatments. Before her career in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Dochy gained 5 years of clinical experience in oncology research at Sanofi. Dr. Dochy obtained her medical degree in 2002 from the Free University of Brussels and specialized in internal medicine, receiving a Diploma in Internal Medicine and Oncology.

Dr. Emmanuelle Dochy, Chief Medical Officer, added: “As Transgene progresses its lead therapeutic cancer vaccine, TG4050, - which has promising potential to help head and neck cancer patients, I am eager to apply my knowledge and experience to support the ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial and potential future trials as well as accelerate the development of Transgene’s broader clinical pipeline. I look forward to working with the team to successfully deliver the important upcoming clinical milestones as we seek to bring a new generation of cancer treatments to patients.”

Biography Dr. Maurizio Ceppi, PhD

Dr. Ceppi brings over 15 years of experience in oncology in the life sciences industry, specializing in cancer immunotherapy and precision medicine. He has played a pivotal role in the preclinical and clinical development of a range of therapies, including monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, small molecules, and mRNA vaccines. In his previous roles at leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies including Roche and iTeos Therapeutics, Dr. Ceppi has demonstrated his expertise in managing multifunctional teams and driving innovative research across multiple geographies. His recent work includes developing biomarker strategies and leveraging AI technologies to advance clinical research. His academic background includes a PhD in molecular biology and gene therapy research at ETH Zürich and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), with postdoctoral work in immunology, including research on anti-viral mRNA vaccines (Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI), Switzerland) and dendritic cells (Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy (CIML), France; Baylor, USA). He is a co-author of over 60 publications and holds eight patents.

Dr. Maurizio Ceppi, Chief Scientific Officer, added: “The cancer vaccines and oncolytic viruses developed at Transgene have the potential to be transformative for cancer immunotherapy. I feel humbled by the opportunity to work as Chief Scientific Officer under the leadership of Dr. Alessandro Riva and am eager to contribute to Transgene's mission of developing a new generation of immuno-oncology therapeutics for cancer patients with high unmet needs.”

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About Transgene

Transgene (Euronext: TNG) is a biotechnology company focused on designing and developing targeted immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. Transgene’s programs utilize viral vector technology with the goal of indirectly or directly killing cancer cells. 

The Company’s clinical-stage programs consist of a portfolio of therapeutic vaccines and oncolytic viruses: 

TG4050, the first individualized therapeutic vaccine based on the myvac® platform, TG4001 for the treatment of HPV-positive cancers, as well as BT-001 and TG6050, two oncolytic viruses based on the Invir.IO® viral backbone. 

With Transgene’s myvac® platform, therapeutic vaccination enters the field of precision medicine with a novel immunotherapy that is fully tailored to each individual. The myvac® approach allows the generation of a virus-based immunotherapy that encodes patient-specific mutations identified and selected by Artificial Intelligence capabilities provided by its partner NEC. 

With its proprietary platform Invir.IO®, Transgene is building on its viral vector engineering expertise to design a new generation of multifunctional oncolytic viruses. 

Additional information about Transgene is available at: www.transgene.fr

Follow us on social media: X (previously-Twitter): @Transgene - LinkedIn: @Transgene Contacts 

Transgene disclaimer 

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The occurrence of any of these risks could have a significant negative outcome for the Company’s activities, perspectives, financial situation, results, regulatory authorities’ agreement with development phases, and development. The Company’s ability to commercialize its products depends on but is not limited to the following factors: positive pre-clinical data may not be predictive of human clinical results, the success of clinical studies, the ability to obtain financing and/or partnerships for product manufacturing, development and commercialization, and marketing approval by government regulatory authorities. For a discussion of risks and uncertainties which could cause the Company’s actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors (“Facteurs de Risque”) section of the Universal Registration Document, available on the AMF website (http://www.amffrance.org) or on Transgene’s website (www.transgene.fr). Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Transgene undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.