Home Intervjuer Spago Nanomedicals CDO är på plats

Spago Nanomedicals CDO är på plats

Spago Nanomedicals CDO är på plats

12 oktober, 2021

First North-listade Spago Nanomedical meddelade under sommaren att man rekryterat Paul Hargreaves som Chief Development Officer för att driva den kliniska utvecklingen i bolaget, med särskilt fokus på Tumorad-projektet och produktkandidaten SN201. BioStock fick en pratstund med Hargreaves för att höra om hans bakgrund, den nya rollen och om hans förväntningar på uppgiften som väntar.

Lundabaserade Spago Nanomedical har utvecklat en teknologi med tumörselektiva nanopartiklar som kan användas både inom bildbaserad cancerdiagnostik, SpagoPix, och cancerbehandling med en ny radionuklidterapi under utveckling inom bolagets projekt Tumorad.

Stabil kassa vid halvårsskiftet

Bolaget publicerade i augusti sitt halvårsresultat och rapporterade en kassabehållning om 76,9 Mkr per den sista juni. Sedan listbytet till Nasdaq First North Growth Market och den övertecknade emissionen om 69,1 Mkr som bolaget genomförde i våras, har Spago Nanomedical fortsatt att driva sina projekt trots att pandemin har gjort det svårt att rekrytera patienter till kliniska studier.

Tumorad mot klinik

I dagsläget driver bolaget en klinisk studie inom SpagoPix-programmet, där lovande interimsresultat validerar plattformsteknologin, vilket ytterligare stödjer ökat fokus på och accelerering av Tumorads produktkandidat SN201 in i klinisk utvecklingsfas. I augusti meddelade Spago Nanomedical att man rekryterat Paul Hargreaves som Chief Development Officer (CDO) för att rikta ytterligare fokus på Tumorad-projektet.

CDO kommenterar

BioStock kontaktade Paul Hargreaves för att få veta mer om hans bakgrund och den nya rollen.

Paul, would you like to start by telling us a little bit about your background?

– I have an educational background in clinical pharmacology from the Universities of Manchester and Aberdeen. My career to date spans almost 30 years in the industry. During this period, I have worked in pharma, contract research organisations (CRO) and start-ups; I have experience working across all phases of clinical development and through to successful product launches.

– For the first 16 years of my career, I worked for Pfizer conducting and managing global clinical trials in therapeutic areas such as oncology, cardiovascular and neurology. This included several years living and working in Japan, leading the development and approval of a novel migraine therapy.

– The next period of my career saw me lead a world-class Early Clinical Development Research Unit based at a prestigious London teaching hospital for Quintiles (now IQVIA).

– In 2012, I returned to pharma, moving to Denmark to lead the global clinical operations department at LEO Pharma. I completed an Executive MBA at Copenhagen Business School in 2016.

– Since 2018, I have been working with several small companies advising on products as diverse as medical devices, vaccines and gene therapies.

What attracted you to Spago Nanomedical?

Paul Hargreaves, CDO Spago Nanomedical

– Spago Nanomedical has a strong pipeline that has the potential to make a significant difference to patients with cancers: either through imaging with SpagoPix or the treatment of advanced cancers with Tumorad.

– Equally important to me was the team within Spago Nanomedical. They show real dedication and enthusiasm to the science behind these novel products and the potential they have for improving the outcomes for individuals with cancers.

Can you describe your new role and what will be on top of your priority list?

– As CDO, I will be responsible for ensuring the optimal development strategy of both of our current in-line products towards market approval. As top priorities, I want to ensure that the SpagoPix clinical study is successfully completed and that we are ready to initiate the Tumorad clinical program in 2022.

Looking ahead, what do you and Spago Nanomedical hope to have achieved in 12 months?

– That is tied to the priorities. I would like to see that, through the clinical results of SpagoPix, we have been able to secure a strong partner agreement bringing improved imaging for individuals that much closer and, additionally, that the first clinical trial of Tumorad is well underway in patients, bringing a new therapeutic closer to realisation for individuals with advanced cancers.

Innehållet i BioStocks nyheter och analyser är oberoende men BioStocks verksamhet är i viss mån finansierad av bolag i branschen. Detta inlägg avser ett bolag som BioStock erhållit finansiering från. 

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