Image | Courtesy of AffyImmune Therapeutics
Former AffyImmune Therapeutics CEO Matt Britz
July 15, 2024
AffyImmune hires former venture capital director as new leader, after first CEO departed in 4 months
Photo | Courtesy of AffyImmune
Daniel Janse, CEO and president of AffyImmune
Less than four months after hiring its first CEO in company history, Natick-based biopharmaceutical company AffyImmune Therapeutics has a new leader.
Daniel Janse, a former independent consultant and former managing director of Cambridge-based venture capital firm Northpond Ventures, has been named the CEO and president of the firm, replacing Matt Britz, who was named the company’s first-ever CEO in March.
In addition to his time at Northpond, Janse has served on the board of several biotech companies, including Cambridge-based Garuda Therapeutics and EnPlusOne Biosciences, a firm based in Watertown, according to an AffyImmune press release issued Monday. He holds a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Harvard University.
“I am honored to join AffyImmune at such a pivotal time in the company’s journey,” Janse said in the press release. “I look forward to working with the team and board of directors to continue and expedite the development of AIC100 for patients with advanced thyroid cancers and non-small-cell lung cancer.”
The company declined to provide more details regarding Brtiz’s departure in an email to WBJ. Britz had joined AffyImmune as its senior vice president, business development in June 2021, according to a press release issued by the company in March following his appointment as CEO.
AffyImmune is working to develop CAR T cell therapies, which utilizes patients’ own immune systems to target and destroy cancer cells. The company is the first to demonstrate the potential of single-dose, single-agent autologous CAR T to induce a complete response in a patient with an anaplastic thyroid cancer tumor, according to its Monday press release.
The company has 11 local employees and 24 employees company-wide, according to data submitted by the company to the WBJ Research Department.
Image | Courtesy of ORI Capital
Simone Song, founder and senior partner at ORI Capital and a board member of Affyimmune Therapeutics
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Janse as the new CEO of AffyImmune,” Simone Song, founding partner of ORI Capital and board director at AffyImmune, said in the press release. “His extensive experience in the biotech industry and his proven leadership in driving innovation and strategic growth make him the ideal executive to lead AffyImmune into its next phase of growth.“
Song’s ORI Capital, an investment firm with offices in Natick and Hong Kong, raised $260 million in February to support investments into biotechnology companies in its portfolio, which includes AffyImmune.
Eric Casey is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments