Scancell Appoints Dr Nermeen Varawalla as CMO

The Scancell Appoints Dr Nermeen Varawalla as Chief Medical Officer released today at 07:00hrs under RNS no: 2949Y was released in error and should be disregarded.  The full correct version of the announcement appears below.

30 July 2024

Scancell Holdings plc

("Scancell" or the "Company")

Scancell Appoints Dr Nermeen Varawalla as Chief Medical Officer

Dr Varawalla joins with over 25 years of experience across global large pharma, healthcare business consultancy and clinical trial services

Appointment enhances Scancell's capabilities for the registration of the adaptive randomised controlled Phase 2/3 SCOPE-2 trial following clinical results from SCIB1 and iSCIB1+ cohorts   

Scancell Holdings plc (AIM: SCLP), the developer of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, today announces the appointment of Dr Nermeen Varawalla as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), effective immediately.

Dr Varawalla has over 25 years of healthcare industry experience in senior leadership positions at global large pharma, healthcare business consultancy and clinical trial services. She brings deep expertise in clinical trial planning and medical affairs, with a strong track record in the execution of global drug development programmes, including numerous registration studies in oncology.

Dr Varawalla has experience of building cross-functional, high-performing teams in both Europe and the USA and progressing clinical assets through to regulatory and commercial success in a number of companies, including Atlantic Healthcare plc, BTG Ltd and, most recently, Relief Therapeutics (SIX:RLF). While at Atlantic Healthcare, Dr Varawalla collaborated across high-performing teams to design FDA registration clinical development programmes and lead non-dilutive fundraising efforts.

As Senior Vice President, Head of Clinical Development & Biometrics at BTG, an international specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) in 2019 for $4.2 billion, Dr Varawalla was instrumental in driving transformational change to  clinical development  and was responsible for the design and execution of phase 3 clinical registration trials in hepatic and colorectal cancer for a radioembolisation therapy which was also developed as a combination therapy with checkpoint inhibitors.

Dr Varawalla earned her MD from the University of Mumbai, followed by a PhD from the University of Oxford, UK, where she was a Rhodes Research Fellow. She also holds an MBA from the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD), France.

Prof Lindy Durrant, Chief Executive Officer, Scancell, commented: "I am delighted to welcome Nermeen to head the very successful clinical team at Scancell. Her wealth of global sector experience and successful execution of commercial strategies across multiple therapeutic areas but importantly in oncology, will be invaluable as we plan ahead for the Phase 2/3 registration study following completion of the SCOPE study. The SCOPE study has already delivered excellent results and Nermeen's expertise and input will build on our current capabilities in order to plan and deliver successful future registrational studies."

Dr Nermeen Varawalla, newly appointed Chief Medical Officer, Scancell, added: "I am thrilled to be joining Scancell at a pivotal phase in the Company's development, as it nears significant clinical milestones and inflection points. I look forward to working with the management team and fellow advisors to advance Scancell's novel 'off the shelf' therapeutic cancer vaccines for advanced cancers through the ongoing SCOPE study, the ModiFY trial and other future clinical trials, with the goal of bringing these innovative treatments to patients as soon as possible."

-ENDS-

About Scancell

Scancell is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is leveraging its proprietary research, built up over many years of studying the human adaptive immune system, to generate novel medicines to treat significant unmet needs in cancer. The Company is building a pipeline of innovative products by utilising its four technology platforms: Moditope® and ImmunoBody® for vaccines and GlyMab® and AvidiMab® for antibodies.

Adaptive immune responses include antibodies and T cells (CD4 and CD8), both of which can recognise damaged or infected cells. In order to destroy such cancerous or infected cells, Scancell uses either vaccines to induce immune responses or monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to redirect immune cells or drugs. The Company's unique approach is that its innovative products target modifications of proteins and lipids. For the vaccines (Moditope® and ImmunoBody® ) this includes citrullination and homocitrullination of proteins, whereas its mAb portfolio targets glycans or sugars that are added onto proteins and / or lipids (GlyMab® ) or enhances the potency of antibodies and their ability to directly kill tumour cells (AvidiMab® ).

For further information about Scancell, please visit: https://www.scancell.co.uk/