Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.

Accomplished biotechnology executive brings more than 20 years of industry leadership and company-building experience as AdvanCell scales and advances toward late-stage development and future commercialization BOSTON & BRISBANE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- #CFO -- AdvanCell , a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing innovative targeted alpha therapies for cancer, today announced the appointment of Sean Cassidy as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Cassidy will lead the Company’s finance-related activities and support AdvanCell’s continued growth as it advances its clinical pipeline towards commercialization. Mr. Cassidy brings more than 20 years of industry leadership experience and a strong track record of building and scaling both private and public life sciences companies. Prior to joining AdvanCell, Mr. Cassidy spent more than a decade as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Arvinas, where he was one of the company’s earliest employees and helped scale the organization from an early-stage biotechnology company through its initial public offering, public company growth and transition to late-stage development. “Sean is an accomplished biotechnology executive with an exceptional track record of scaling innovative companies, raising and deploying capital, executing strategic transactions and pioneering novel therapeutic modalities,” said Philina Lee, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, AdvanCell. “His judgment and breadth of experience will be invaluable as we scale AdvanCell, invest with discipline and deploy capital to maximize long-term value and impact for patients. We are delighted to welcome him to our leadership team as we enter this next phase of growth.” During his tenure at Arvinas, Mr. Cassidy led multiple private and public financings, raising approximately $1.3 billion in private and public capital, as well as approximately $1 billion in non-dilutive capital through strategic partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Bayer, Genentech (now Roche) and Merck. Arvinas was one of the pioneers in targeted protein degradation, a novel therapeutic modality with programs in both oncology and neuroscience. “I have always been drawn to companies pioneering novel therapeutic modalities with the potential to make a meaningful difference for patients,” said Mr. Cassidy. “AdvanCell has an opportunity to establish targeted alpha therapy as an important new modality for treating many cancer types. I look forward to working with Philina and the team to build and scale the organization as we advance our pipeline towards registrational trials and future commercialization and work to bring these new therapies to patients.” Prior to Arvinas, Mr. Cassidy served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Axerion Therapeutics and CuraGen Corporation. Earlier in his career, he held financial leadership roles at 454 Life Sciences, where he helped build the organization and participated in its acquisition by Roche Diagnostics. He began his career at Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Cassidy holds an MBA and B.S. in Accounting from the University of Connecticut and is a Certified Public Accountant. AdvanCell also announced that Dayle Hogg, D.Phil., an Operating Partner at Abingworth, will transition from Chief Operating Officer to an advisory role with the Company. Dayle has served as Chief Operating Officer since Abingworth’s investment in 2024, supporting AdvanCell’s early development and growth. The Company thanks Dayle for his significant contribution and Abingworth for its continued support. About AdvanCell AdvanCell is a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing next-generation targeted alpha therapies for cancer. Through its vertically integrated platform spanning proprietary Lead-212 technology, secure isotope supply, advanced manufacturing and clinical development, the Company is unlocking the full potential of targeted alpha therapy. With integrated operations across North America and Australia, AdvanCell is advancing a pipeline of differentiated precision radiopharmaceuticals designed to improve outcomes for patients with cancer worldwide. For more information, visit and follow us on LinkedIn . Contacts Company contact@advancell.com.au Media Kimberly Ha KKH Advisors 917-291-5744 kimberly.ha@kkhadvisors.com

California-based Santa Ana Bio has dosed the first cohort in a first-in-human trial of SAB01, a bispecific antibody designed to deplete mast cells selectively by co-engaging KIT and Siglec-6. The molecule's design addresses the following: existing KIT-targeted antibodies produce rapid responses in conditions such as chronic urticaria but also hit hematopoietic stem cells and melanocytes, generating off-target toxicity. Because KIT and Siglec-6 are co-expressed on mast cells but not found together on any other cell type, SAB01's avidity-driven dual engagement is intended to restrict activity to mast cells while sparing other KIT-expressing populations. The Phase I study (NCT07815561) is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single ascending dose trial enrolling up to 88 healthy adults, randomized 6:2 to SAB01 or placebo. Primary objectives are safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD). No efficacy or outcome data are available at this stage; additional cohorts may be added based on emerging safety and PK/PD findings. Sanofi's Dupixent (dupilumab), an IL-4/IL-13 receptor blocker, received FDA approval for chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) in adults and adolescents in April 2025 and was subsequently extended to children aged 2 to 11. Novartis's Rhapsido (remibrutinib), a BTK inhibitor, was approved for antihistamine-refractory CSU in adults in September 2025 as the first oral targeted therapy in that setting. Separately, barzolvolimab, a monospecific anti-KIT antibody in development at Celldex Therapeutics, has shown on-target effects in other KIT-expressing tissues, including hair-color changes and neutropenia. Santa Ana said the Phase I initiation marks its first entry into the clinic. The company's broader pipeline includes SAB05, a CD40-targeted glucocorticoid antibody-drug conjugate advancing through investigational new drug-enabling studies, with a clinic entry targeted for 2027. Safety, PK, and PD data from the SAB01 single ascending dose study will inform decisions on whether and how to enroll any further cohorts. Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article

Enrollment has opened in a first-in-human Phase I trial of APTN-101, an EGFRvIII-targeted bispecific T cell engager developed by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Adaptin Bio, Inc. (OTCQB: APTN) for patients with World Health Organization Grade IV malignant glioma. The trial is being conducted at Duke University's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, where the underlying BRiTE (Brain Bispecific T cell Engager) technology was developed. APTN-101 is designed to address two major barriers to immunotherapy in glioblastoma (GBM): drug penetration across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and selective targeting of tumor cells. The BRiTE approach targets EGFRvIII, a tumor-specific EGFR variant found in a subset of GBMs, while using what Adaptin describes as an immune-cell "hitchhiking" mechanism to improve delivery of the T cell engager into the brain. In preclinical models, Adaptin reported that the approach increased brain distribution of the EGFRvIII T cell engager by more than seven-fold compared with administration of the engager alone and produced complete tumor eradication in 70%–80% of EGFRvIII-positive GBM mouse models. The findings have not yet been validated clinically, and the company has not published the preclinical dataset in a peer-reviewed journal. EGFRvIII has previously proved difficult to translate into an effective therapeutic target. Celldex Therapeutics' EGFRvIII vaccine rindopepimut failed to improve overall survival in the Phase III ACT IV trial, while AbbVie's EGFR-directed antibody-drug conjugate depatuxizumab mafodotin was discontinued after the Phase III INTELLANCE-1 study also failed to demonstrate an overall survival benefit. The open-label, dose-escalation Phase I study will enroll up to 15 adults with EGFRvIII-positive Grade IV malignant glioma. Its primary objectives are to assess dose-limiting toxicities and establish the maximum tolerated dose. Secondary endpoints include pharmacokinetics and objective response rate using modified Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) criteria, while exploratory measures include cytokine changes, anti-BRiTE antibodies, progression-free survival, and overall survival. Mustafa Khasraw, professor at Duke University School of Medicine, is the principal investigator. The US FDA cleared APTN-101's investigational new drug (IND) application in September 2024, with Duke granting institutional review board approval in January 2026. The opening of enrollment therefore marks the program's transition into human testing nearly two years after the IND clearance. No EGFRvIII-targeted therapy has received regulatory approval. With only 15 patients planned and no clinical data yet available, the study is primarily an initial test of whether the BBB-delivery and tumor-targeting properties reported in preclinical models can be reproduced safely in humans. Access the AllSci platform to explore the science behind the news. Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article