Dr. Hartl, former Therapeutic Area Head – Autoimmunity/Transplantation/Inflammation at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), to lead Quell’s innovative multi-modular Treg cell therapy programs into clinical development

LONDON and BOSTON, July 29, 2021 – Quell Therapeutics Ltd (“Quell”), the world leader in developing engineered T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapies for serious medical conditions driven by the immune system, announces the appointment of Tracey Lodie, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Lodie brings to Quell more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry focused on the discovery and development of cell therapies and novel biologics in the areas of autoimmunity, transplant biology and immune-oncology.

Dr. Lodie will be responsible for leading Quell’s scientific strategy with a focus on enhancing the Company’s innovative multi-modular Treg platform, transitioning it to an allogeneic platform and building a pipeline of next-generation, off-the-shelf engineered Treg products to address multiple opportunities across a wide range of immune-driven indications. Dr. Lodie will be based in Boston, MA, USA.

“We are delighted to welcome Tracey to Quell. She brings impressive drug discovery experience working with a wide range of cell therapy platforms, including induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), Treg and T-effector cells and genetic engineering,” said Iain McGill, Chief Executive Officer of Quell Therapeutics. “We believe that Tracey’s extensive technical and therapeutic expertise enhances our industry leading engineered Treg cell therapy development capabilities and reinforces our proven operational competency. Her leadership will be crucial as we progress our pipeline of autologous Treg cell therapy candidates in liver transplantation, Type 1 diabetes and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and expand into other indications with next-generation, allogeneic Treg cell therapies.” 

The Treg cell therapy space is one of the most exciting and fast-moving areas of immunology, offering huge potential to develop effective new treatments for patients,” said Dr. Lodie. “Quell has emerged as the leader in the engineered Treg cell therapy space with one of the most versatile and innovative platforms and a leadership and scientific team with the vision, expertise and operational experience to build a successful company. I look forward to working with the team as we convert this potential into real value for patients.”

Dr. Lodie joins Quell from Gamida Cell, a clinical-stage, Nasdaq-listed cell therapy company, where she served as CSO with responsibility for strategic oversight of its entire cell therapy pipeline – with a focus on natural killer (NK) cells – and overseeing translational research for clinical programs.

Prior to this, Dr. Lodie served as senior vice president, translational immunology at BlueRock Therapeutics, where she helped to advance its universal pluripotent stem cell (PSC) platform into central nervous system, cardiovascular and autoimmune therapeutic areas; and as vice president of immunology at Nasdaq-listed Syros Pharmaceuticals, where she developed new autoimmunity and immuno-oncology research programs.

Dr. Lodie began her career in industry at Sanofi-Genzyme, where she spent 15 years in various leadership roles of increasing responsibility, ultimately serving as senior director of immunology. At Sanofi-Genzyme, Dr. Lodie was instrumental in advancing several development programs through regulatory approval in the area of transplant and autoimmunity.

Dr. Lodie completed postdoctoral work in hematology/oncology at Harvard Medical School. She holds a Ph.D. in immunology and pathology from Boston University School of Medicine and a B.S. in biology from Fairfield University.

About Quell Therapeutics

Quell Therapeutics is the world leader in developing engineered T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapies that aim to harness, direct and optimize their immune suppressive properties to address serious medical conditions driven by the immune system.

The Company is leveraging its pioneering phenotype lock technology, unique multi-modular platform and integrated manufacturing capabilities to design and develop a pipeline of highly engineered Treg cell therapies with greater potential for persistence, potency and stability than earlier generations of Treg cell therapy approaches.

Quell’s lead candidate QEL-001 is being developed to induce operational tolerance following liver transplantation, with the potential to protect the post-transplant liver without the need for chronic immunosuppressive medications. Quell is also advancing additional programs in neuroinflammatory and autoimmune diseases. www.quell-tx.com.

Contacts

Media: Mark Swallow, Frazer Hall
MEDiSTRAVA Consulting
+44 207 638 9571
Quell-Tx@Medistrava.com

Investors: Christina Tartaglia
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
+1 212 362 1200
christina@sternir.com