Allergy Therapeutics plc (LON:AGY), the fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical group specialising in allergy vaccines, today announced new senior appointments and expansion of the R&D and clinical team in line with the Group’s growth plans at the Group’s UK headquarters in Worthing. These appointments are aimed at broadening the clinical development team in order to facilitate continued progress of the pipeline and clinical development programmes, in addition to continuing to prepare for US market entry.
The Group has underlined its commitment to clinical excellence by appointing Pieter-Jan de Kam as Clinical Director effective immediately. Pieter-Jan de Kam joins the Group from HAL Allergy in The Netherlands where he was responsible for clinical development, with recent successes including European and US studies for pollen and house dust mites. Prior to that, Pieter-Jan worked across Europe, in the US and in Singapore in various roles including Director of Clinical Research at Merck Sharp & Dohme.
In addition to the appointment of Pieter-Jan, the Group has recruited Simon Piggott as Head of Clinical Science. Simon will be responsible for the delivery of Allergy Therapeutics’ robust clinical strategy to facilitate progression of the Group’s broad pipeline and innovative technologies, working with both the established product development teams and clinical operations departments. Simon has significant experience including successful respiratory development programs through Phase I to IV having previously worked as Global Scientific Director at GSK and Associate Director at Quintiles and Vertex.
As part of the Group’s continued investment in its R&D function, Tim Higenbottam has been appointed to the position of Senior Pharmaceutical Physician and will focus on the US regulatory process, a key part of the Group’s three-pillar growth strategy. The R&D team which is led by Murray Skinner, Chief Scientific Officer, has doubled the size of its headcount since 2016.
Murray Skinner, Chief Scientific Officer of Allergy Therapeutics Plc, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Pieter-Jan and Simon to the Allergy Therapeutics team. Their vast experience and expert knowledge is ideally focussed to promote continued innovation and help us bring new and convenient products for patients into the allergy immunotherapy market.”
Pieter-Jan de Kam, new Clinical Director at Allergy Therapeutics, stated: “This is a company with a long history in allergen immunotherapy, an excellent pipeline of innovative allergy products and a focus on addressing the causes of allergy to help patients with their allergy. I am very excited to be able to join the Company at such a crucial time in its development and look forward to leading the clinical team to continued successes.”
