New senior director, immuno-oncology R&D, for Byondis

New senior director, immuno-oncology R&D, for Byondis

Byondis B.V. has appointed Timo K. van den Berg, Ph.D., as senior director, Immuno-Oncology (IO) Research and Development. Van den Berg assumes this role on September 1, operating out of Byondis’ headquarters in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Company executives say in his new role, van den Berg will be instrumental in helping shape Byondis’ IO pipeline, which includes the anti-SIRPα monoclonal antibody BYON4228. 

“We are pleased to welcome Timo to the Byondis family,” says Wim Dokter, Ph.D., chief scientific officer. “He is a globally recognized IO pioneer, having made important contributions to the field, such as being the first to describe the role of SIRPα and recognizing the potential to use this target to develop a drug for the benefit of cancer patients.”

According to the company, as a longstanding Byondis collaborator, Professor van den Berg played a pivotal role in the discovery of the CD47-SIRPα axis as an innate immune checkpoint. CD47 is known in the IO space as the “don’t eat me” signal that allows tumors to escape recognition and destruction.

“I am very excited about this new chapter in my career,” Professor van den Berg says. “I believe that Byondis and I are well matched. We share the same values, including a strong, goal-oriented work ethic, and a passion for improving patients’ lives by creating precision medicines targeting difficult-to-treat cancers.”

Van den Berg brings to Byondis more than 30 years of experience in the IO field, as a renowned researcher, educator, inventor, lecturer, and co-author of more than 175 peer-reviewed publications. His most recent position was head and principal investigator, Immunotherapy Laboratory, Department of Molecular Hematology, at Sanquin Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 

Since 2017, van den Berg has been professor of Immunotherapy, Vrije Universiteit, which is affiliated with the Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology, Amsterdam University Medical Center. He spent 25 years as research group leader and department head at Amsterdam University Medical Center and Sanquin Research. Sanquin, a non-profit organization responsible for the blood supply in the Netherlands, develops and produces pharma products, conducts scientific research and develops and performs diagnostic services.

Van den Berg is a member of many boards, including Amsterdam Infection and Immunity Institute and Cancer Center Amsterdam. His professional memberships include the Dutch Society of Immunology and the European Society for Clinical Investigation. He received his Ph.D. from Amsterdam’s Vrije Universiteit, and his M.Sc. in Biological Sciences (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam.