HOOKIPA Pharma Announces Leadership Changes to Intensify Focus on HB-200

Core Insights - HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. has appointed Dr. Malte Peters as CEO and Terry Coelho as CFO, effective July 22, 2024, both retaining their positions on the Board of Directors [1][9][22] - The company is entering a critical phase for its lead candidate HB-200, having received PRIME designation from the European Medicines Agency and aligning on a clinical development strategy with the U.S. FDA for potential accelerated approval [2][30] - The company is also advancing its other programs, including HB-500 for HIV treatment, with the first patient recently dosed in a Phase 1b clinical trial [2][30] Leadership Changes - Dr. Malte Peters has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, previously serving as Chief Research and Development Officer at MorphoSys [4][11] - Terry Coelho has over 35 years of experience in finance and business development, having held various executive roles, including CFO at Gamida Cell and CinCor Pharma [6][13] - Sean Cassidy has been appointed to the Board of Directors, bringing over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors [10][28] Product Development - HB-200 is HOOKIPA's lead oncology candidate, engineered with a proprietary replicating arenaviral vector platform, targeting HPV16-positive cancers [8][30] - The company is conducting a review of its business operations and strategy to maximize shareholder value and the potential of HB-200 [9][23] - HOOKIPA's pipeline includes investigational immunotherapies targeting various cancers and aims to develop functional cures for HBV and HIV in collaboration with Gilead [18][30]