Hansa Biopharma appoints Dr. Magnus Korsgren as Head of Research & Development
Dr Korsgren to lead the research and development of Hansa’s proprietary enzyme technology platform as the Company expands also into new therapeutic areas
Lund, Sweden March 1, 2021. Hansa Biopharma, the pioneer in immunomodulatory enzyme technology for rare IgG mediated diseases, today announces the appointment of Magnus Korsgren, M.D., Ph.D. as Vice President and Head of Research and Development.
Dr Korsgren will lead the efforts to advance Hansa Biopharma’s pipeline of drug candidates for rare immunologic diseases based on the Company’s proprietary IgG-cleaving enzyme technology platform. Hansa’s lead asset, imlifidase, received conditional approval under the brand name Idefirix®(imlifidase) in the European Union in August 2020 for desensitization treatment of highly sensitized kidney transplant patients. Imlifidase is also currently being investigated at clinical stage for 3 additional indications: treatment of anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibody disease, Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) and antibody-mediated kidney transplant rejection (AMR) post kidney transplantation. Hansa also has pre-clinical programs in gene therapy and cancer and is developing a next generation of enzymes, NiceR.
"Magnus Korsgren’s extensive international experience in translational medicine and drug development will be highly valuable for our continued efforts to build a pipeline of drug candidates within transplantation, autoimmune diseases and beyond”, said Christian Kjellman, Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
Dr. Korsgren has a long and extensive background from the life science industry and academia in both preclinical and clinical drug development, with particular focus on immunological mechanisms in inflammatory airway diseases, oncology and cardiovascular medicine. He brings more than 15 years’ experience from leadership positions in a variety of pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including Ferring, AstraZeneca, BioInvent and Novartis.
Dr. Korsgren is board certified in Clinical Pharmacology and has published more than 30 original articles, reviews and book chapters.
"I am very excited to join the highly innovative team at Hansa Biopharma”, said Dr Korsgren. "This is a great opportunity for me to help Hansa pioneer the next wave of research into its enzyme cleaving technology platform and to bring novel therapies from the laboratory to the patients with rare immunological diseases."
Magnus Korsgren will take up his new role on 1st of April this year.
The information was submitted for publication, through the contact person set out below, at 08:00 a.m. (CET) on March 1, 2021.
Contact information
Klaus Sindahl
Head of Investor Relations
Hansa Biopharma
M: +46 (0) 709–298 269
E: klaus.sindahl@hansabiopharma.com
Katja Margell
Head of Corporate Communications
Hansa Biopharma
M: +46 (0) 768-198 326
E: katja.margell@hansabiopharma.com
About Hansa Biopharma
Hansa Biopharma is leveraging its proprietary enzyme technology platform to develop immunomodulatory treatments for enabling transplantations and rare immunoglobulin G (IgG)-mediated autoimmune conditions, gene therapy and cancer.
The Company’s lead product candidate, imlifidase, is an antibody cleaving enzyme being developed to enable kidney transplantation in highly sensitized patients and may be further developed for use in other organ and tissue transplantation as well as acute autoimmune indications.
Imlifidase has been granted conditional approval in the European Union for the desensitization treatment of highly sensitized adult kidney transplant patients with a positive crossmatch against an available deceased donor.
Hansa’s research and development program is advancing the Company’s enzyme technology to develop the next generation of IgG-cleaving enzymes with potentially lower immunogenicity, suitable for repeat dosing in relapsing autoimmune diseases, gene therapy and oncology. Hansa Biopharma is based in Lund, Sweden and has operations in both Europe and the U.S.
Hansa Biopharma
Scheelevägen 22
SE- 223 63 Lund, Sweden
Phone: +46 46 16 56 70
www.hansabiopharma.com
Nasdaq OMX Stockholm
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