Lyon, France, May 12, 2020 – MaaT Pharma announced today the appointment of leading international experts in the field of microbiome research, hemato-oncology, infectiology, immunology, pharmacology, and clinical trial methodology to its newly-formed Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) focused on the treatment of Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD). The SAB will serve as a resource to advise MaaT Pharma on its scientific, regulatory and clinical development strategies supporting the further clinical evaluation of its microbiome restoration biotherapeutics in hemato-oncology indications as well as the expansion into solid tumor indications.
“MaaT Pharma is spearheading a new class of microbiome-based therapeutics in oncology and has identified an area of unmet therapeutic need with steroid-refractory acute GvHD, where its products can be beneficial for patients with limited treatment options,” commented Ernst Holler, MD, PhD, newly elected Chair of MaaT Pharma’s SAB. “Research and initial clinical evidence have demonstrated that the microbiome can be a potent modulator of cancer treatment efficacy. I am delighted to work with this group of internationally-recognized scientific and clinical experts as well as with the MaaT Pharma team to help guide the company as it continues to advance its pipeline.”
“It is an honor to bring together these esteemed experts to support the progression of our microbiome restoration biotherapeutics toward late-stage clinical development,” added Hervé Affagard, co-founder and CEO of MaaT Pharma. “We look forward to drawing on their expertise as we advance our product candidates and initiate plans to evaluate the oral formulation of our full ecosystem microbiota therapeutic in acute myeloid leukemia patients. The capsule, MaaT033, will also give us the opportunity to enter new oncological indications in the future, including combination treatment regimens with immune checkpoint inhibitors.”
The inaugural voting members of MaaT Pharma’s SAB are listed below. Biographies for each member can also be found on the MaaT Pharma website.
Ernst Holler, MD, PhD
Ernst Holler was Director of the Clinical and Experimental Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Program in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Regensburg, Germany, for more than 20 years and is now Senior Professor on Translational Research in GvHD. With more than 250 peer-reviewed manuscripts to his name, he is an expert in the field of Graft versus Host Disease and was awarded the van Bekkum Award, the highest award from the European Society for Stem Cell Transplantation.
Madan Jagasia, MD
Madan Jagasia is Professor of Medicine in Hemato-oncology and Chief Medical Officer at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, TN. As a clinical investigator with over 20 years of experience, his primary research interest is GvHD and is the site’s principal investigator for the national US chronic GvHD consortium.
Robert Jenq, MD
Robert Jenq is an Assistant Professor and Deputy Department Chair at the Department of Genomic Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. His research uses a multidisciplinary approach to examine the impact of the microbiome on cancer treatment particularly on bone marrow transplantation and cancer immunotherapies.
Florent Malard, MD, PhD
Florent Malard is a hematologist at the Hospital Saint-Antoine and an Associate Professor at Sorbonne University in Paris, France. His research includes clinical and translational studies on allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with a particular focus on preclinical studies on GvHD and has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts.
Robert Zeiser, MD
Robert Zeiser is Head of the Section for Tumor Immunology and Immune Modulation at the Medical Center of the University of Freiburg in Germany. His research focuses on haematology, oncology, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. He has received several awards for his outstanding achievements in clinical therapeutic drug research.
About MaaT Pharma
MaaT Pharma, a clinical stage company, has established the most complete approach to restoring patient-microbiome symbiosis to improve survival outcomes in life-threatening diseases. Committed to treating blood cancers and graft-versus-host disease, a serious complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation, MaaT Pharma has already achieved proof of concept in acute myeloid leukemia patients. Supporting the further expansion of our pipeline into larger indications, we have built a powerful discovery and analysis platform to evaluate drug candidates, determine novel disease targets and identify biomarkers for microbiome-related conditions. Our therapeutics are produced through a standardized cGMP manufacturing and quality control process to safely deliver the full diversity of the microbiome. MaaT Pharma benefits from the commitment of world-leading scientists and established relationships with regulators to spearhead microbiome treatment integration into clinical practice.
