ImmunoKite Therapeutics, an biotech company developing natural killer T (NKT) cell therapy for cancer, appoints Emmie Fan, MBA, MS as Co-Founder and CEO.

VALHALLA, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, January 4, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — ImmunoKite Therapeutics, Inc., an early-stage biotechnology company developing engineered allogeneic cell therapies from natural killer T (NKT) cells for the treatment of cancers and autoimmune diseases, announced today the appointment of Emmie Fan, MBA, MS as Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective November 15, 2023.

Ms. Emmie Fan brings more than 25 years of biopharmaceutical experience ranging from drug discovery research, clinical development to commercialization. Prior to ImmunoKite, Ms. Fan was the Chief Business Officer at Avotres Inc., a clinical stage biotech focused on cell therapy for autoimmune diseases, where she led the operations in clinical development, investor and public relations, and business development for 5 years. An expert in new product commercialization and lifecycle strategy, Ms. Fan previously worked in global and US marketing with increased responsibilities for several pharmaceutical companies including Hoffmann-La Roche, Novartis, Merck and AbbVie. Ms. Fan obtained her MBA in Finance and Marketing from New York University, MS in Molecular Biology from York University, and BS in Biochemistry from Fudan University.

“We are extremely fortunate that Emmie has agreed to join ImmunoKite as Co-Founder and CEO. Emmie is highly qualified for taking this role at ImmunoKite as she has extensive experience in biopharmaceutical strategy and operations, fundraising, business development and new product commercialization with a successful track record of bringing innovative products to market” said Dr. Xianzheng (Jerry) Zhou, Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Scientific Officer of ImmunoKite.

“I am excited to join ImmunoKite as Co-Founder and CEO,” said Ms. Emmie Fan. “I am very impressed by ImmunoKite’s innovative pipeline and the preliminary results of its lead asset, IMK-101, a non-edited CAR engineered allogeneic iNKT cell therapy for several types of leukemia as well as their cell expansion technology platform. In addition, this therapy has recently been awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, a further validation of ImmunoKite’s innovative approach. I look forward to working with the leadership and development teams to move ImmunoKite’s pipeline to clinical stage.”

About ImmunoKite

ImmunoKite Therapeutics was formed in November 2023 from a research-based biotech called Akeso Therapeutics. We consider it as our mission to address the patient’s unmet needs with our novel, off-the shelf, allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineered NKT cell therapies for hematological and solid tumors. Leveraging its NKT cell expansion platform and two in-house developed patents, ImmunoKite has been advancing the development of its patent-protected allogeneic type I (invariant NKT, iNKT) and type III NKT cell therapies for the treatment of cancers. For more information, please visit the ImmunoKite’s website at https://www.immunokite.com.

ImmunoKite contacts

Emmie Fan, MBA, MS, Co-Founder & CEO

[email protected]

Xianzheng (Jerry) Zhou
ImmunoKite Therapeutics, Inc
[email protected]