The Board of Directors welcomes new Board Members Giovanni Cerutti and Luca Melindo who will support the company’s future growth

The Ordinary Shareholder’s Meeting of BetaGlue Technologies appointed the new Board of Directors: Colin Story, Giovanni Cerutti and Luca Melindo have been appointed Directors of the Company, while Diana Saraceni, Claudio Giuliano, Michel Therin are re-elected, as well as Riccardo Palmisano, who remains in office as Chairman.

The new Members of the Board appointed Colin Story as CEO of BetaGlue Technologies, who commented: “BetaGlue’s clinical development programmes hold great promise to significantly benefit patients and healthcare providers and I’m delighted to be appointed CEO at this very exciting stage in the company’s evolution. The talented team at BetaGlue, both past and present, have made tremendous progress and as a team we’ll be working hard to build on this foundation with a primary focus of bringing new and innovative targeted radiotherapy treatment options to cancer patients”.

Thanks to their strong experience and comprehensive knowledge of the industry, the newly appointed Board Members are yet another valuable addition that can strengthen BetaGlue’s Governing Body and will provide additional support to the Company’s future growth.

Profiles of the new Directors

Colin Story brings over 25 years of medical technology and Life Sciences industry experience. After graduating with a PhD in Molecular Biology, he started his career at Amersham plc (now GE Healthcare) where he headed a global commercial role with full P&L accountability. In 2005, he joined Isis Innovation, while in 2011, he was invited to join OrganOx as Operations Director. Dr Story co-founded OxSonics in 2013 and served as CEO from January 2014 through to January 2022. Under his leadership, a total of £25m was raised and OxSonics’ proprietary ‘SonoTran’ platform technology transitioned into clinical use. Dr Story also currently holds the position of Non-Executive Director of Hox Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focussed on the treatment of Prostate Cancer.

Giovanni Cerutti is Business Unit Head in Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), a Novartis Company. He has a wealth of experience as a seasoned Commercial Director in AAA Italy and former Country Business Manager Italyin GE HealthCare/Amersham, launching a loco-regional oncologic radiotherapy platform, and over 30 years of working experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. He boasts a proven track record in managing start-up branches, growing market share and profitability, with extensive experience in the investment world. At the companies where he has served, he has held roles in both the head offices and subsidiaries, and in different departments.

Luca Melindo has twenty years of experience in Private Equity and Venture Capital. He managed investment and divestment deals with significant returns on invested capital. He boasts a sound expertise in management control, corporate finance, M&A and management of corporate activities. He currently holds several corporate offices, also with operational powers, and works, as a consultant, with an investment fund operating in the biotech sector.

Betty Polikar, Gianluca De Danieli, Pietro Bubba Bello and Gaia Bisaccioni strengthen the Clinical Research, Manufacturing and Quality areas

BetaGlue Technologies has appointed four new managers, strengthening the team across strategic fields for its business development: Betty Polikar, Gianluca De Danieli, Pietro Bubba Bello and Gaia Bisaccioni joined the company in September in the Clinical Research, Manufacturing and Quality areas.

Betty Polikar was Head of the Startup Unit of the Center of Excellence at “Bambino Gesù” Children’s Hospital in Rome and will now bring her experience as Head of Clinical Operations of BetaGlue. Gianluca De Danieli is taking on the role of Head of Clinical Development, Pietro Bubba Bello will be Head of Manufacturing & Operations, and Gaia Bisaccioni is joining the company as Head of Quality. The three managers join the company from Novartis, after having worked at Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA).

At the same time, clinical progresses are ongoing for BAT-90, the advanced cancer radiotherapy platform developed by BetaGlue: recently, the first three breast cancer patients have been treated at New Hospitals in Tblisi, Georgia. This is the second “first in man” clinical trial, after the one in liver cancer patients.

Riccardo Palmisano, Executive Chairman, and Antonino Amato, CEO/CMO of BetaGlue Technologies, declared: “The appointment of four new highly skilled leaders with proven experience in Life Sciences’ key areas, along with the increased financial assets stemming from the successful closing of our recent financing round, enables BetaGlue to continue with confidence toward achieving the ambitious goal of creating value for both Patients and Shareholders”.

According to the article featured in the international peer-reviewed journal, BAT-90 could be considered a safe and innovative therapeutic option for unresectable solid liver tumors

BetaGlue Technology’s Antonino Amato and Pier Luigi Carriero, together with Gordon McVie (King’s College London), Giovanni Paganelli (Istituto Romagnolo Studio Tumori, IRCCS), Roberto Cianni and Giuseppe Maria Ettore (San Camillo/Forlanini Hospital) published the ‘In-vivo Models for the Performance and Safety of BAT-90, a Novel 90-Yttrium-based Internal Radiotherapy Platform‘ article on the September-October issue of In-Vivo, an international peer-reviewed journal on experimental and clinical biomedical research (click here to read the full article).

BetaGlue’s BAT-90 is an innovative, active implantable device designed for the irradiation of unresectable tumors (e.g., liver cancer) or of surgical tumor beds, based on the combination of Yttrium-90 beta-emitting microspheres and a biocompatible adhesive hydrogel. The rationale behind BAT-90 is to localize the Yttrium-90 radioactivity on the administration site, thanks to the adhesive hydrogel, while also minimizing its body dispersion. The effective induction of necrosis in the target injection area was shown in a pig liver model, whereas the safety of BAT-90 was demonstrated in biocompatibility tests for acute and chronic toxicity, both locally and systemically.

The study shows that BAT-90 administration induced necrosis into the target site, while the safety experiments in the treated animals highlighted results very similar to the controls. Therefore, BAT-90 could be considered as a safe and innovative treatment option for inoperable solid tumors of the liver.

Antonino Amato is the CEO and CMO of BetaGlue, while Pier Luigi Carriero is the company’s VP – Clinical Operations. Giovanni Paganelli, Roberto Cianni and Giuseppe Maria Ettore are part of Company’s Scientific Advisory Board.

In-Vivo is an international peer-reviewed journal designed to bring together original high-quality studies and reviews on experimental and clinical biomedical research within the frames

The raised capital will give BetaGlue Technologies the ability to further develop its advanced radiotherapy platform, BAT-90 , thus opening a new chapter in the fight against cancer

BetaGlue Technologies has closed a EUR 10 million equity financing round : Fin Posillipo (Petrone Group), Kairos Partners SGR, LIFTT (Venture Capital led by Stefano Buono, founder of AAA), Neva Sgr (Intesa Sanpaolo Group), Profequycapital and Romed will be joining the company’s capital , with a reinvestment from existing investors Innogest Capital and Panakès Partners .

The investment will finance BetaGlue Technologies’ future operations , aimed at reaching several milestones in Europe and the US for the development and approval of BAT-90 , the company’s advanced radiotherapy platform. Key priorities in this development will be the completion of the clinical development programs that are already underway in liver and breast cancer and their regulatory approval, as well as the completion of the industrial scale-up in Europe and the US of the safe-biopsy device , which has already been clinically tested in lung and liver biopsy.

Riccardo Palmisano, Executive Chairman and Antonino Amato, CEO/CMO of BetaGlue Technologies , commented: “We warmly welcome our new qualified partners, who are enabling us to accelerate BetaGlue’s development plans. Together, we will be able to strengthen the cornerstones of value creation for the Company, such as the clinical development and industrial scale-up of our innovative products. This way, we are confident we will be able to deliver the precision medicine concept in radiotherapy for the benefit of patients and healthcare professionals, while strengthening the value for investors who have placed their trust in us and our technology.”

The first clinical findings have shown that BAT-90 makes it possible to treat onlythe area where the tumour is located, while avoiding the surrounding tissues, so as to combine treatmentefficacy and patient safety

BetaGlue Technologies has enrolled the first patient in a clinical trial withBAT-90 , the company’s cancer radiotherapy platform. The first clinical findings have shown thatBAT-90 makes it possible to treat only the area where the tumour is located, while avoiding the surroundingtissues, so as to combine treatment efficacy and patient safety.

The clinical trial in liver cancer patient has been coordinated by Professor MalkhazMizandari at the New Hospitals in Tbilisi (Georgia), an international centre of excellenceaffiliated with Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia (USA).

BAT-90 consists of a β radiation-emitting biocompatible matrix, delivered to patientsvia a percutaneous injection : the Yttrium-90-labelled microspheres present inside thematrix are injected into the tumour and, as the carrier takes only 120 seconds to reach full polymerisation, they are retained exclusively in the injected area . This prevents the microspheres from spreading to surrounding tissues or organs , so as to release their radiation energy only to the target tumour. Inthis way, a very low radioactive dose is needed, much lower than the one used with conventionalradio-metabolic treatments, thus enhancing treatment efficacy and patient safety.

BAT-90 opens up important horizons in oncology , bringing benefits to both patients andhealthcare systems. Indeed, BAT-90 is a therapeutic nuclear medicine solution that is extremelyprecise (it only targets the tumour area), personalised (calibrated to the patient’sclinical situation), rapid (a single injection reaching full polymerisation in just a fewminutes) and safe (the radiation energy is released where needed, avoiding exposure ofsurrounding tissues and organs and thus minimizing any risk to either patients or healthcareprofessionals).

Dr. Antonino Amato, BetaGlue Technologies’ CEO/CMO , said: “The confirmation in this first patient ofthe previous findings from the pre-clinical studies with BAT-90 opens up tremendous perspectives totherapeutic nuclear medicine in oncology, which will hopefully lead to improved outcomes and better qualityof life for patients affected by several types of cancer”.

Dr. Riccardo Palmisano, BetaGlue Technologies’ Executive Chairman , commented: “The beginning of thefirst clinical trial with BAT-90 with a positive confirmation of efficacy and safety is a very meaningfulstep for patients with solid tumours, for oncologists and radiotherapists treating them, and for BetaGlueTechnologies, which today takes a major leap forward in creating value for the shareholders who believe inour project”.

BetaGlue (www.betaglue.com), an innovative Italian company in the field of interventional oncology today announced the appointment of its new Board of Directors, composed by investors representatives, independent industry experts and company CEO. 

New members of the board are Riccardo Palmisano, Company’s Chairman and Geoffroy De Ribains, as independent Board member. Antonino Amato, CEO of the company, Diana Saraceni (Panakes Partners) and Claudio Giuliano (Innogest Capital) confirm their involvement with the company’s board. The board will also be advised by Gianfranco Rutili and Luigi Costa, as non-voting observers, bringing additional perspective on the industry.

Riccardo Palmisano also serves as CEO of MolMed, a relevant public company focused on cell & gene therapies in both rare diseases and oncology and has more than 30-years’ experience in the bio-pharma sector. During the years he held various positions in Italian and international companies, such as Farmitalia Carlo Erba, Menarini Group, Shire Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, Genzyme and Sanofi in growing managing position such as GM at Lusofarmaco in 1995, founder, managing director and GM at Shire Italy in 2000, VP Commercial at GSK in 2003. In 2016 he was elected as president for Assobiotec, the Italian trade association for biotech companies, and he was confirmed in the role in 2019.

Geoffroy De Ribains is a life sciences former venture capitalist, biotech entrepreneur and board member with a strong background in molecular biology. He was investment director for 10 years at EdRIP (Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, now Andera). He was member or observer in the Board of many successful life sciences companies such as Poxel (Merck-Serono Spin-off), Endosense (acquired by St. Jude in 2013), Biospace Lab, Sapiens (acquired by Medtronic in 2014) and Genkyotex. He also co-founded two biopharma companies: Biomunex Pharmaceuticals and Step Pharma.

Gianfranco Rutili is an industry leader who held several global executive positions including: World Wide Development Leader in Oncology at Pfizer, Inc., and VP for Development, Oncology, at Pharmacia, Inc. obtaining approval of several oncology therapeutic treatments. Prior he was VP for Development at Shaman Pharmaceuticals, a California-based company successfully completing an IPO. Since 2009 he has been serving as a Board of Directors in several bio-medical Italian companies.

Luigi Costa brings over 25 years of operational and leadership experience in the global biopharma and Nuclear Medicine sector. He was CEO of Nordic Nanovector and led one of the largest European biotech IPOs. He also served as Board Member of Oncopeptides AS, as Regional Head International at Onyx Pharmaceuticals and held several leadership positions with Amgen and Eli Lilly.

“I strongly believe in the capabilities of BetaGlue in helping cancer patients. Its core nuclear compound technology has the potential to bring radiation therapy to patients in a safe, simple and cost-efficient way” said Riccardo Palmisano. “The company is in clinical phase and, led by its Board of Directors and management team, will soon bring proof of efficacy in some of its applications. Moreover, it is operating in Nuclear Medicine, a sector which has attracted strong interest from the industry with several companies being acquired in the last years”.

BetaGlue’s radioactive matrix and proprietary catheter can deliver radiation therapy very precisely to the tumour site and has demonstrated its efficacy preclinically. It is now an exciting time for the company as it is entering into clinical testing for difficult to treat tumors” said Geoffroy De Ribains.

“I’m proud to work supported by this Board of Directors as we are about to start clinical trials in our initial clinical indications in the summer of this year, current pandemic situation permitting” said the CEO Antonino Amato. “Under this renewed leadership of the company, I am confident Betaglue will grow into a global leader in the field of interventional nuclear medicine”.