JW Therapeutics announced the appointments of Dr. Shaun Paul Cordoba as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and Raymond J. Hage, Jr. as Senior Vice President (SVP) of Corporate Development. In the newly created CSO role, Dr. Cordoba will oversee the early-stage research and development, and provide scientific leadership and strategic guidance to develop a robust cell immunotherapy pipeline. As SVP of Corporate Development, Mr. Hage will lead corporate strategy development and business partnerships to enhance and build the near and long-term pipeline.

Dr. Cordoba is a highly regarded scientist in driving new innovations in cell immunotherapy technology. He is ranked 3rd in the world for patent holdings in relation to Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) technology with well over 270 patent filings in relation to enhancing CAR activity, shielding CAR-T cells from immunosuppression, and improving CAR safety. Prior to joining JW Therapeutics, Dr. Cordoba was the Executive Director of Synthetic Biology and Cell Signalling at Autolus Therapeutics, where he led a group of scientists focused on the development of Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) for both haematological and solid tumors.

Mr. Hage has a strong business acumen and rich experience in biotech and pharmaceutical industry. He is a founder of Hapten Sciences, and an advisor to companies and venture funds in the biotech and vaccine industry. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations and Chief Operating Officer of Novavax Inc., a publicly traded vaccine company.

During his career, Mr. Hage has led several functions including product development, corporate strategy, commercial operations and corporate development, and held a variety of positions with Cephalon (Teva) and Eli Lilly & Co.