Modiblast appoints Behrouz Mansouri as Medical Director to prepare transition into clinical development phase

Oberhaching/Munich, Germany – Modiblast GmbH, a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunomodulatory cancer therapies, today announced the appointment of Behrouz Mansouri, PD, Dr. med., as new Medical Director. Behrouz’ appointment adds substantial clinical and medical expertise with a focus on hematology and hematology-oncology to Modiblast’s leadership team. At Modiblast, Behrouz will be planning and coordinating future clinical studies, liaising with patient organizations, and managing the company’s clinical affairs activities. 

“Modiblast is approaching a transformative period with our lead development program advancing towards the initiation of clinical studies. I am excited to see Behrouz joining our team at this crucial point in our company history and look forward to working with him to accelerate the path to clinical development for the Modiblast approach,” commented Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Helga Schmetzer, Managing Director and Founder of Modiblast. 

“Modiblast is pursuing a very promising and elegant approach to address residual leukemic cells and convert them to ‘leukemia-derived” antigen-presenting cells that activate the patient’s immune system. The Modiblast approach could deliver substantial advantages compared to other therapies as an in vivo therapy using response modifiers that ultimately leads to a personalized anti-tumor response”, commented Behrouz Mansouri, Medical Director of Modiblast. 

Behrouz Mansouri is a renowned expert in Transfusion Medicine and Hematology and has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles in the field. He previously led the Transfusion Medicine and Therapeutic Apheresis unit at the Inselspital Bern and continues to advise the Inselspital as a Senior Counsultant. He also previously served as Director of the National Blood Transfusion Service at the Swiss Red Cross. Behrouz Mansouri has been awarded the “Volkmar Sachs Medal” by the German Society for Transfusion Medicine (DGTI) and holds an Honorary Membership of the Schweizerische Vereinigung für Transfusionsmedizin – SVTM. 

Modiblast’s therapeutic approach combines two crucial factors to turn ‘foe’ into ‘friend’. A myeloid differentiation factor fosters the creation of dendritic cell progenitor cells and hematological recovery. The patented combination with a danger signal and maturation factor drives the formation of dendritic cells (DCs). Both signals combined trigger the reprogramming of cancer blast into dendritic cells of leukemic origin, or DCleu, and boost the creation of healthy DC. Our first program, MB101, aims for a fixed-dose combination of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulation factor (GM-CSF), and prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) as a ‘danger signal’. 

About Modiblast 

Modiblast pursues a novel in vivo cell reprogramming approach to treat hematological malignancies and other cancers. Our proprietary strategy aims to drive innate & adaptive immune responses and establish memory cells. With our lead pipeline program progressing towards a first clinical trial in AML, we are in the process of raising a seed round. Our long-term vision is to establish a cancer backbone therapy capable of prolonging phases in remission. We aim to enable patients to self-administer this novel drug combination at home, drastically improving their quality of life. 

Contact 

Modiblast GmbH 

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Helga Schmetzer 
CEO/CSO 
contact@modiblast.com  

Media Relations 

Valency Communications 
Mario Brkulj 
mbrkulj@valencycomms.eu