Crescendo Biologics Appoints Philip Bland-Ward as Chief Scientific Officer

Cambridge, UK, 4 April 2017 – Crescendo Biologics Ltd (Crescendo), the developer of multi-functional Humabody® therapeutics, today announces that Dr Philip Bland-Ward has been appointed Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). The appointment will take effect in May 2017.
With over 20 years’ experience in the biopharmaceuticals industry, Phil has played a key role in the development of novel antibody therapeutics in multiple disease areas. He joins Crescendo from Kymab where he was responsible for leading its most advanced development programme. Phil previously held senior positions at Cambridge Antibody Technology and PanGenetics, and was CSO at Navion, as well as a co-founder of Nascient.
His in-depth experience with late stage, pre-clinical development programmes, including novel antibody drug candidates, complements Crescendo’s current in-house expertise and strengthens the Company’s positioning as a provider of novel immuno-oncology products with enhanced therapeutic potential.
Phil’s role as CSO will be to drive Crescendo’s immuno-oncology (IO) and Humabody® Drug Conjugate (HDC) programmes to clinical proof-of-concept.
Dr Peter Pack, CEO of Crescendo Biologics, said:
“Over the past 24 months, Crescendo has transitioned from a technology platform company to a developer of Humabody® therapeutics. We have created a rich internal pipeline of truly differentiated, multi-functional biologics with a focus on oncology. Our growing reputation is also leading to external collaborations and licensing deals with big pharma, such the recent deal signed with Takeda.
“Our aim now is to advance our programmes rapidly to the next stage of clinical development. Phil’s appointment as CSO, coupled with his experience and standing in the field of biologics development, will be key to achieving this.”
Dr Philip Bland-Ward, the new CSO, added:
“The IO field has been a key focus for biotech companies in the last few years and it’s an area where Crescendo’s Humabody® platform is ideally positioned. The Company has produced a pipeline of multi-functional biological candidates with exciting new modes-of-action and huge therapeutic potential. I look forward to working with the team at Crescendo to advance the development of Humabody® therapeutics in oncology.”

Background on Dr Philip Bland-Ward
Phil began his career working on pain and migraine research at the Glaxo Institute of Applied Pharmacology and then at GlaxoWellcome. He joined Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) to lead antibody projects in neuroscience, metabolic diseases, and ophthalmology. He was Director of Oncology Biology at CAT before moving to PanGenetics to successfully lead the development of their antibody assets (pain, auto-immune disease), underpinning progression to Phase I clinical studies.
Subsequently Phil took roles as CSO of Navion (oncology) and SweetSpot Therapeutics, and co-founded Nascient (inflammatory disease) - all small companies focused on discovery and development of antibody therapeutics.
Prior to joining Crescendo, Phil was a VP at Kymab with particular responsibility for the scientific leadership of their most advanced development programme.
Phil holds a BPharm degree in pharmacy and a PhD in pharmacology, both from King’s College London.

For more information, please contact: Crescendo Biologics Dr Peter Pack, CEO Tel: 44 (0)1223 497140 info@crescendobiologics.com Instinctif Partners Dr Christelle Kerouedan / Melanie Toyne-Sewell Tel: 44 (0)20 7457 2020 crescendo@instinctif.com ICR Inc. Stephanie Carrington/James Heins Tel: 646-277-1282/203-682-8251 crescendo@icrinc.com

Notes to Editors:
About Crescendo Biologics Ltd
Crescendo Biologics is a biopharmaceutical company developing potent, truly differentiated mono- and multi-functional Humabody® therapeutics in oncology. The Company’s Humabody® therapeutics are based on its unique, patent protected, transgenic mouse platform generating 100% human VH domain building blocks (Humabody® VH) with superior biophysical properties and developability.
Crescendo is pursuing novel Humabody®-based product opportunities, through in-house development and strategic partnerships in both multi-specific immuno-oncology modulators and Humabody® Drug Conjugates (HDCs), the next generation of ADCs.
Crescendo is located in Cambridge, UK, and is backed by blue-chip investors including Sofinnova Partners, Touchstone Innovations (formerly known as Imperial Innovations), Takeda and Astellas.
For more information, please visit the website: www.crescendobiologics.com .

About Humabody® Therapeutics
Humabodies are a novel class of extremely small, robust and potent protein therapeutics. They are based on fully human VH domain building blocks (Humabody® VH) isolated from heavy chain-only antibodies produced using Crescendo’s proprietary transgenic mouse.
Compared with monoclonal antibodies, Humabodies offer a unique combination of potential benefits resulting from their small size, cost-effective production and robust biophysical properties. These attributes allow Crescendo to optimally configure an almost limitless range of multifunctional Humabody® formats in a rapid timeframe.
Crescendo is developing a pipeline of novel, Humabody®-based therapeutics in oncology. Its next-generation mono- and multi-specific Humabody® immune-oncology modulators are optimally configured for targeting a range of key mechanisms in the cancer immunity cycle. These include blocking inhibitory signals or activating stimulatory pathways of the immune response, as well as enhancing antigen presentation and inhibiting the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Its Humabody® Drug Conjugates (HDCs) deliver a superior therapeutic index to standard ADCs.
For more information, please visit the website: www.crescendobiologics.com.