DÜSSELDORF, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Abalos Therapeutics announced today the appointment of Gerben Moolhuizen, MBA, as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Moolhuizen brings an impressive track record in drug development and a wealth of experience spanning over three decades across a diverse array of fields and technologies in the biopharmaceutical industry. Abalos is currently advancing ABX-001, the first candidate from its proprietary AdaptInnate platform, towards clinical evaluation. ABX-001 is a novel immunostimulatory product candidate that is delivered systemically and aims to trigger a tailored immune reaction from inside the tumor to release the full breadth of the immune response against solid tumors, including distant metastases.
“Gerben’s extensive operational and strategic drug development expertise makes him uniquely qualified to lead Abalos as we transition to a clinical-stage biotechnology company, executing our clinical strategy and expanding our platform capabilities,” commented Dr. Klaus Binder, Chairman of the Board of Abalos. “We welcome Gerben to the Abalos team and look forward to working together to unlock the vast potential of this novel therapeutic approach bringing together both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system to trigger a concerted anti-tumor response. I would also like to extend our gratitude to Dr. Marcus Kostka for his exemplary leadership in translating a unique scientific idea into a promising product candidate that has successfully advanced through preclinical evaluation.”
“Abalos’ approach to harness the immunostimulatory properties of arenaviruses specifically against tumor cells is highly differentiated in the immuno-oncology field,” said Gerben Moolhuizen, Chief Executive Officer of Abalos. “The company has already achieved several key milestones in building out a completely new technology and has a lead product candidate nearing first-in-human evaluation. I am excited to join Abalos’ innovative and outstanding team to bring a differentiated treatment option to solid tumor patients.”
Prior to joining Abalos, Mr. Moolhuizen held several leadership positions in biotech and the pharmaceutical industry including Chief Executive Officer and Chief Business Officer at ISA Pharmaceuticals, General Manager at OctoPlus, which got acquired during his tenure by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. in 2013, and business development roles at Pharming Group. In these positions he was closely involved in all corporate development aspects across the biotech life cycle encompassing therapeutic product development, fundraising activities, IPO processes and acquisitions. Gerben Moolhuizen holds an M.Sc. from Utrecht University in Medical Biology and an MBA from Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Abalos is leveraging its proprietary AdaptInnate technology platform to develop a new class of product candidates harnessing the immunostimulatory and anti-tumoral properties of arenaviruses to trigger a highly precise and directed immune response against primary tumors and their metastases. Abalos’ lead candidate, ABX-001, is specifically designed to persist and replicate in cancerous and antigen-presenting cells without destroying them. This novel, non-oncolytic approach results in the induction of targeted, effective, and durable anti-tumor activity involving both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system. In preclinical studies, the candidate has shown marked tumor regression in multiple tumor models, its ability to induce tumor-specific T cells, as well as an excellent pre-clinical safety profile in non-human primates. In addition, a robust and scalable cGMP manufacturing process, which allows for manufacturing at high yield, has been established. Based on these promising results, Abalos is currently preparing the initiation of a first-in-human clinical trial with its lead candidate in patients with solid tumors, which is expected to start in 2025.
About Abalos Therapeutics
Abalos Therapeutics is pioneering a novel anti-cancer approach that directs the full breadth of the immune system’s power specifically towards cancer cells. Abalos’ arenavirus-based drug candidates are designed to trigger precise innate and adaptive immune responses from within the tumor to engage all relevant immune cell types in a concerted attack against both the primary tumor and distant metastases. The company’s lead product candidate ABX-001 has demonstrated strong anti-tumor efficacy in pre-clinical studies in multiple tumor models as well as an excellent pre-clinical safety profile and will enter the clinic in 2025. Led by experienced biotech entrepreneurs and immunology pioneers, Abalos’ goal is to establish a new drug class in immuno-oncology. For more information, please visit www.abalos-tx.com.
