COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IO Biotech, a private company developing novel immuno-oncology therapies targeting immune checkpoint inhibitory targets to treat cancer, today announced the appointment of Eva Ehrnrooth, M.D., Ph.D., to the position of chief medical officer. Dr. Ehrnrooth, a board-certified oncologist, joins the company from Boehringer Ingelheim and brings more than 14 years of clinical development experience. Additionally, at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress last month, data were presented showing that two of the 15 lung cancer patients in the company's Phase 2 trial continue to demonstrate stable disease after five years with monthly subcutaneous injections. IO's immuno-oncology therapies attack both tumor cells and immune-suppressive cells to amplify their therapeutic effect in cancer treatment. IO's immuno-oncology therapeutic approach is further distinguished from other immuno-oncology therapies, as a treatment that will be available to any patient, without patient-specific modification.

"We are thrilled to have Dr. Ehrnrooth join our team," stated Mai-Britt Zocca, Ph.D., chief executive officer of IO Biotech. "She brings a wealth of knowledge in clinical development along with multinational regulatory expertise as well as worldwide contacts in oncology, and she will be instrumental in advancing development of our pipeline of immune-oncology therapies."

Eva Ehrnrooth, M.D., Ph.D., is a board-certified oncologist who most recently served as executive director, the global clinical programme team leader at Boehringer Ingelheim. She held clinical development positions of increasing responsibility at Boehringer Ingelheim between 2010 and 2017. Prior to that Dr. Ehrnrooth was a medical director at Oncology Genmab and before that, was in the department of oncology at National Danish Hospital.
"We are pleased to follow up our initial positive data announcement from our trial of IO101 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with these encouraging long-term follow-up data," stated Dr. Ehrnrooth. "We are encouraged by the antitumour activity and strong safety profile observed and plan to evaluate the second generation of IO101, i.e. IO102, in multiple types of cancer. We also plan to evaluate IO102 in combination studies with a variety of other treatments and anticipate enhanced overall efficacy of either agent alone, based on our preclinical research."

More People on the Move