Adaptimmune Announces New Vice President of Business Development, Wenyong Wang

PHILADELPHIA and OXFORD, United Kingdom, April 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:ADAP), a leader in the use of TCR engineered T-cell therapy to treat cancer, today announced that Dr. Wenyong Wang has joined the company as Vice President of Business Development.

Dr. Wang brings substantial experience of licensing, M&A, collaborations, strategic partnerships and business development initiatives with a focus on cancer immunotherapy.

Prior to joining Adaptimmune, Dr. Wang was Managing Director of Investment Banking at Evolution Life Science Partners. His other former roles include Managing Director of Burrill Securities, as well as Director and Vice President positions at investment banks, Boenning & Scattergood, Inc. and Janney Montgomery Scott. In these roles, Dr. Wang leveraged his scientific expertise to provide guidance to pharmaceutical and biotech clients seeking to enhance their portfolios and grow their businesses. He completed numerous high profile licensing deals and M&A transactions over an eight year period.

“Wenyong combines deep scientific knowledge with strong commercial acumen, and we are delighted that he has joined Adaptimmune,” said Helen Tayton-Martin, Chief Operating Officer. “We are confident that his significant expertise will augment the skills of our existing commercial team and add real value as the company pursues an expanding range of business development opportunities.”

Before joining the investment banking industry, Dr. Wang was a principal scientist in R&D with GlaxoSmithKline, conducting oncology and autoimmune research, and he oversaw two drug candidates from discovery through clinical development. Dr. Wang holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Penn State University.

Dr. Wang said: “I am very pleased to join Adaptimmune at this exciting time. The company has already made great progress and I look forward to working with the rest of the team to contribute to its next growth phase.”

About Adaptimmune
Adaptimmune is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel cancer immunotherapy products based on its T-cell receptor (TCR) platform. Established in 2008, the company aims to utilize the body’s own machinery - the T-cell - to target and destroy cancer cells by using engineered, increased affinity TCRs as a means of strengthening natural patient T-cell responses. Adaptimmune’s lead program is an affinity enhanced T-cell therapy targeting the NY-ESO cancer antigen. Its NY-ESO TCR affinity enhanced T-cell therapy has demonstrated signs of efficacy and tolerability in Phase I/II trials in solid tumors and in hematologic cancer types, including synovial sarcoma and multiple myeloma. Adaptimmune has a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with GlaxoSmithKline for the development and commercialization of the NY-ESO TCR program. In addition, Adaptimmune has a number of proprietary programs. The company has identified over 30 intracellular target peptides preferentially expressed in cancer cells and is currently progressing 12 through unpartnered research programs. Adaptimmune has over 200 employees and is located in Oxfordshire, U.K. and Philadelphia, USA. For more information: http://www.adaptimmune.com

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, and include, without limitation: the success, cost and timing of our product development activities and clinical trials and our ability to successfully advance our TCR therapeutic candidates through the regulatory and commercialization processes. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to our business in general, we refer you to our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 13, 2015 and our other SEC filings. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made and we do not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. 

Adaptimmune Contacts

Will Roberts
Vice President, Investor Relations
T:  (215) 825-9306
E: will.roberts@adaptimmune.com

Margaret Henry
Head of PR
T: +44 (0)1235 430036
Mobile: +44 (0)7710 304249
E: margaret.henry@adaptimmune.com

Released April 18, 2016