First hire in the US will support growing global business development activities
Marseille, France, July 9, 2020 – ImCheck Therapeutics today announced the appointment of Claude Knopf as Chief Business Officer. Mr. Knopf brings over 25 years of experience as a senior business development executive from both large pharmaceutical and emerging biotechnology companies, with a recent focus on transactions and collaborations in the areas of immunology and oncology.
With the appointment of Mr. Knopf, ImCheck has initiated the expansion of its corporate activities into the United States, a strategic step supporting ongoing business development efforts. Mr. Knopf will be based in Boston, Massachusetts, giving ImCheck access to a key hub of the biopharmaceutical industry as the company further establishes itself as an emerging immuno-oncology (IO) leader developing a deep pipeline of antibody drug candidates targeting the butyrophilin (BTN) superfamily of immune system regulators.
“Claude brings us a strong track record in driving value-generating business development initiatives and completes our leadership team, who all have both large pharma and innovative small biotechnology backgrounds,” stated Pierre d’Epenoux, Chief Executive Officer of ImCheck Therapeutics. “His contributions to corporate strategy as well as leading negotiations for collaborations and licensing will be a vital part of our growth, including kicking-off ImCheck’s activities in the US.”
“With the initiation of the EVICTION trial, ImCheck has transitioned into a clinical-stage company with a broad and unique pipeline focused on the BTNs andgd T cells, representing tremendous opportunities in IO, autoimmunity and infectious disease,” added Mr. Knopf, Chief Business Officer of ImCheck Therapeutics. “I look forward to working with Pierre and the entire ImCheck team to expand our network of collaborators and maximize our strategic options.”
In his most recent positions, Mr. Knopf was Chief Business Officer at Gemini Therapeutics and Pieris Pharmaceuticals. During his tenure at Pieris, a NASDAQ-listed biotechnology company developing biotherapeutics for IO and respiratory diseases, he supported the successful closing of several transformative, multi-program partnering deals with large pharmaceutical companies. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President Business Development & Licensing, M&A for Baxter BioScience, and the spin-off Baxalta, where he supported the expansion of the oncology business and pipeline and strengthened the company’s hematology and immunology divisions. He also spent 12 years at Novartis in various leadership, business development and licensing roles in Europe and the United States. During his time at Novartis, he completed an extensive range of acquisition, licensing and collaboration agreements in support of building the Novartis Global Product Portfolio.
Mr. Knopf holds a Master of International Business Studies from the University of South Carolina, Darla Moore School of Business and a BA in Economics from Manchester College