Neogene Therapeutics Announces Ton Schumacher, Ph.D., Company Co-Founder, Awarded 2021 Jeantet-Collen Prize for Translational Medicine

Renowned immunologist and T cell engineering expert awarded distinguished prize for conducting fundamental translational research of substantial significance for medicine

NEW YORK & AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Neogene Therapeutics, Inc., a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering a new class of fully personalized neo-antigen T cell therapies to treat cancer, today announced that the company’s co-founder, Board member and Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board, Ton Schumacher, Ph.D., has been awarded the 2021 Jeantet-Collen Prize for Translational Medicine. Awarded each year by the Louis-Jeantet Foundation to leading-edge researchers who are active in the member states of the Council of Europe, the prize is intended to foster scientific excellence and encourage the continuation of innovative research projects.

“Throughout his distinguished career, Ton has taken a technology-based approach to analyze and engineer the activity of immune cells in cancer, which has inspired the development of different novel neoantigen-directed cancer therapies. We are delighted that he has been selected for the prestigious Jeantet-Collen prize based on his groundbreaking research and considerable contributions to scientific innovation in cancer treatment,” said Carsten Linnemann, Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Neogene Therapeutics. “Ton’s seminal research laid the groundwork for Neogene’s proprietary platform, which our team is using to pioneer a new class of fully personalized T cell therapies to treat patients with solid tumors.”

Dr. Schumacher was awarded the 2021 Jeantet-Collen Prize for Translational Medicine for his work in developing technologies to study the role of the immune system in cancer progression and improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. As a recipient of this prize, he will receive funds to continue his research to further understand the immune microenvironment during tumor transition and predict which tumor antigens are recognized by T cells, potentially leading to the development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics.

Dr. Schumacher currently serves as Principal Investigator at The Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam; a member of the Oncode Institute, a virtual Dutch cancer research institute; and Professor of Immunotechnology at Leiden University Medical Center. Previously, he co-founded AIMM Therapeutics, Neon Therapeutics and T Cell Factory, and served as Chief Scientific Officer of Kite Pharma EU. Dr. Schumacher is an internationally renowned immunologist and researcher in the areas of cancer neo-antigens and T cell receptor (TCR) therapies. In recognition of his work in these areas, he has received, among others, the Amsterdam Inventor Award, the Queen Wilhelmina Cancer Research Award, the Meyenburg Cancer Research Award, the William B. Coley Award, and the Stevin Award of the Dutch Research Council.

About Neogene Therapeutics

Neogene Therapeutics, Inc. is a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of next-generation, fully personalized engineered T cells therapies for a broad spectrum of cancers. The company’s engineered T cells target mutated proteins found in cancer cells due to cancer-associated DNA mutations, or neo-antigens, that render tumor cells vulnerable to detection by T cells. Neogene’s proprietary technology platform aims to identify TCR genes with specificity for neo-antigens from tumor biopsies. Neogene’s novel approach intends to deliver a tailored set of TCR genes for each individual patient, which will be engineered into patient-derived T cells directing them towards neo-antigens in tumor cells, with the goal of providing a fully personalized engineered T cell therapy for cancer.

For more information, please visit www.neogene.com, and follow Neogene Therapeutics on LinkedIn.