Dr. Pieter Spee, a medical biologist and manager with many years of experience in international biopharmaceutical companies, was appointed to the position of Chief Scientific Officer, CSO.
Dr. Spee brings to the Pure Biologics team substantive knowledge about the development of biological drugs and a great deal of knowledge in the field of immuno-oncology, with particular emphasis on cellular immune mechanisms, including NK cell biology, as well as deep experience in the management of teams of scientists and research and development process in the scientific field. Dr. Spee’s expertise is perfectly suited to Pure Biologics’ area of research interest.
I am looking forward to our cooperation. Dr. Spee is a high-class specialist and manager, he will surely bring a lot of value to Pure Biologics. As a company, we set ourselves ambitious goals, and I am convinced that Dr. Spee’s enthusiasm, experience and a fresh perspective will ensure their successful implementation – Dr. Filip Jelen, President of the Management Board.
As the Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Pieter Spee will manage the complete Pure Biologics R&D team of over 70 scientists. He will be responsible for the complete current and future portfolio of drug-development projects at Pure Biologics, as well as support the process of establishing business contacts with partners from the pharmaceutical industry.
“There is an unparalleled spirit and ambition at Pure Biologics to succeed in developing groundbreaking treatments for cancer and inflammation. I look very much forward to leading the highly skilled Pure Biologics R&D team and to bring drug candidates to the clinic in the coming years” – Dr. Pieter Spee, newly appointed Chief Scientific Officer at Pure Biologics S.A.
Dr. Pieter Spee is a medical biologist educated at Dutch universities. From 2001 to 2012, he worked at the Novo Nordisk A/S – one of the largest global pharmaceutical companies, where he went from a scientist dealing with cancer biology, angiogenesis and immunology, through positions of principal investigator, project manager, up to Director of the NK cell biology department and then taking the position of Scientific Director of the Department of Translational Immunology.
During his career, he was the leader of several drug development programs from the concept phase to clinical phases in the field of immunology, cancer, and chronic inflammation. At Novo Nordisk A/S, his preclinical research was important for the selection of Lirilumab for clinical development as cancer immune-therapy (now IPH2102, Innate Pharma/BMS). He initiated the development of anti-NKG2A at Novo Nordisk, and led the combined project between Novo Nordisk and Innate Pharma that led to the development of Monalizumab for cancer and chronic inflammation treatment (now IPH2201, currently developed by Innate Pharma/AstraZeneca).
Dr. Spee has managed multiple drug-development and diagnostic projects in cancer and inflammatory diseases. He has built and managed large global drug-development teams. He has extensive experience in cooperation with regulatory authorities and Key Opinion Leaders, and he has created and managed highly productive cooperation networks with scientific institutes and hospitals. At the same time, Dr. Spee has been constantly educating himself in the project management and management of complex teams in areas of drug development and medical devices.
After 2012, he has served, among others, as CTO at FibroTX in Estonia (skin diagnostics), and CSO at Tikomed in Sweden (preclinical and clinical development of IBSOLVMIR for the improvement of pancreatic islet transplantation).
He is a co-author of 7 patents in the field of antibodies and almost 30 scientific publications.