Turnstone Biologics Appoints Stewart Abbot, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer

Dr Abbot’s appointment further strengthens Turnstone’s senior leadership team, adding depth and expertise in immune cell therapy

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Turnstone Biologics Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of cancer immunotherapies, today announced the appointment of Stewart Abbot, Ph.D., as the Company’s Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Abbot brings more than 20 years of research and development experience in cell-based products to Turnstone, where he will serve as a key member of the executive team leading the Company’s R&D organization, setting strategy priorities and delivering on the operational goals for the business.

“Stewart is the ideal addition to Turnstone’s management team and we are delighted that he is joining us at such an exciting time in the evolution of our company,” said Sammy Farah, Ph.D., President and CEO at Turnstone. “Stewart’s breadth of expertise in cell therapy and immuno-oncology, along with his strong track record of advancing novel therapeutic platforms, will be instrumental as we continue the clinical development of our lead oncolytic virus candidate and rapidly move our innovative TIL therapy towards human studies.”

Dr. Abbot joins Turnstone from Adicet Bio where he was Chief Scientific and Chief Operating Officer, leading R&D activities for allogeneic gamma delta T-cell therapies. Prior to this, he served as Chief Development Officer at Fate Therapeutics and oversaw development of hematopoietic and induced pluripotent stem cell-based immunotherapeutics. His previous roles included Executive Director of Integrative Research and Senior Director of Research at Celgene, where he led technology and cell therapy product scouting, alliance identification and business development activities, initiated engineered T-cell programs, and developed novel therapeutic candidates based on hematopoietic stem cells and human placenta-derived cells; and Head of the Molecular and Cellular Biology research group for GE Global Research at General Electric. Dr. Abbot holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the University of Edinburgh, M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and Ph.D. in Pathology from the University of London.

“Both of Turnstone’s differentiated viral immunotherapy and TIL platforms have curative potential and have produced a uniquely compelling pipeline that can effectively drive both innate and adaptive anti-tumor immunity, offering tremendous promise for the treatment of solid tumors,” said Dr. Abbot. “I am thrilled to join the impressive team at Turnstone to execute on our vision to fundamentally alter the paradigm of cancer therapy for the many individuals for whom limited treatment options exist.”

About Turnstone Biologics

Turnstone Biologics, a privately held clinical stage biotech company, is developing breakthrough cancer immunotherapies by advancing two leading and complementary platforms that drive innate and adaptive tumor immunity, to provide benefit to the millions of cancer patients underserved by current treatment options. Turnstone’s proprietary vaccinia virus platform is engineered to drive coordinated immune activation, potent viral activity and local expression of encoded therapeutics. The innovative TIL therapy platform leverages clinically validated treatment protocols and has been specifically designed to extend beyond the use of bulk TILs to enrich for the most relevant T-cells for tumor eradication, preserving broad antigen diversity and minimizing time to treatment for patients. The Company has an ongoing Phase 1/2a trial in solid tumors (RAPTOR) for its leading oncolytic virus candidate, RIVAL-01, and is expecting to file an IND for the lead TIL therapy candidate, TIDAL-01, in 2021. For more information, please visit www.turnstonebio.com, and follow Turnstone on LinkedIn.