LONDON– LabGenius, a pioneer in the use of machine learning (ML) for antibody discovery, today announced that accomplished scientific leaders Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, MD/PhD/FRCP, and Victor Greiff, PhD, will join their world-class team of advisors. As distinguished experts in academia and biotech, they will play an important role in advancing LabGenius’ antibody discovery platform and its ability to discover next-generation oncology treatments.
“The calibre of these appointments demonstrates our unwavering commitment to accelerating the development of uniquely powerful antibody therapeutics,” says LabGenius’ founder and CEO, James Field. “Prof Greiff and Prof Arkenau’s guidance will add to our ability to make significant improvements to the existing therapeutic landscape.”
Prof Arkenau is currently serving as Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of Drug Development at Ellipses Pharma and is a highly respected Consultant Medical Oncologist, practising at several HCA locations alongside his honorary appointment at University College London. Prior to joining industry, Prof Arkenau was Executive Medical Director of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute where he led the development of multiple new cancer drugs ranging from small molecules to complex immunotherapies. As a skilled physician, he has extensive experience in early oncology drug development in many different tumour types. Prof Arkenau is currently helping LabGenius develop its scientific strategy relating to its pipeline of immune-cell engagers, which benefit from best-in-class killing selectivity.
“LabGenius is focused on addressing a clear drawback of existing immunotherapies,” says Prof Arkenau. “Many existing antibody treatments have poor selective killing profiles, which can result in on-target, off-tumour effects and the discontinuation of treatment. I’m proud to work alongside LabGenius as they use their platform’s predictive power to identify non-intuitive antibody designs that perform well across multiple therapeutically valuable properties, including selective killing.”
Prof Greiff is an Associate Professor at the University of Oslo. His group develops machine learning, computational and experimental tools for analysing antibody and T-cell repertoires to facilitate the in-silico design of immune receptor-based immunodiagnostics and immunotherapeutics. Prof Greiff’s experience in combining computational and experimental approaches for effective antibody analysis will enhance LabGenius’ platform development efforts, whilst helping to continue to streamline their antibody discovery processes.
“The team’s approach to data generation is unique,” says Prof Greiff. “ML models are only as good as the data they’re trained on, so LabGenius’ focus on generating large amounts of disease-relevant proprietary data using functional cell-based assays is incredibly powerful. I’m confident that the impressive pre-clinical results we’re seeing in the lab will soon translate into breakthrough cancer treatments for patients.”
