Epitopea Expands its Clinical Development and Research Capabilities as it Accelerates to the Clinic
CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom and MONTREAL, July 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epitopea, a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible, off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies, today announced the formation of its dedicated clinical team and the expansion of its research team. These developments represent a significant milestone in the company’s ongoing progress in advancing its RNA-based immunotherapies, known as CryptiVax™, into clinical trials.
Siri Brinchmann-Hansen Torhaug, Head of Oncology Development, and Gertrud Koefoed Rasmussen, Head of Development Operations, will both join Epitopea’s Executive leadership team. They report into Dr. Klaus Edvardsen, who has served as Epitopea’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) since February 2025 and oversees the strategic direction of clinical trials and regulatory affairs.
Epitopea’s research team in Cambridge has been extended to include translational immunology capabilities with the appointment of Dr. Theres Oakes as Director of Translational Sciences and Dr. Lisa Smith as Director of Research (UK). Both report into Dr. Jon Moore, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Epitopea, and will work in close collaboration with the clinical team to ensure the seamless integration of research and clinical strategies.
Siri Brinchmann-Hansen Torhaug is a highly accomplished, board-certified, oncology specialist with extensive experience in clinical strategy and development. Siri has worked in various senior leadership roles, including as Chief Medical Officer at Nykode Therapeutics, where she was instrumental in developing clinical strategies for oncology and autoimmune disease therapies. She brings a wealth of experience from working across both early-phase translational research and late-stage clinical trials. At Epitopea, Siri will focus on clinical strategy and development, ensuring that the company’s pipeline moves forward with precision and efficacy.
“It’s a pleasure to join Epitopea’s Executive and clinical leadership team,” said Siri Brinchmann-Hansen Torhaug, Head of Oncology Development. “With my background in oncology clinical trials, I am excited to contribute to the company’s innovative work in cancer immunotherapy. I look forward to working alongside Klaus and Gertrud to advance Epitopea’s promising pipeline, with the aim of improving patient outcomes in oncology.”
Gertrud Koefoed Rasmussen brings over 20 years of experience in clinical operations across multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology and rare diseases. Most recently, Gertrud held the position of VP and Head of Development Operations at Nykode Therapeutics, where she built and expanded the clinical operations department and led clinical trials across all phases of development. She has extensive experience in vendor management, regulatory compliance, and process optimization. At Epitopea, Gertrud will lead clinical trial management and regulatory compliance, ensuring that trials are conducted efficiently and in accordance with regulatory guidelines.
“Joining Epitopea is an exciting opportunity to leverage my expertise in clinical operations and contribute to the development of innovative therapies,” said Gertrud Koefoed Rasmussen, Head of Development Operations. “I look forward to collaborating with the team to manage and execute clinical trials that will bring groundbreaking cancer immunotherapies to patients with significant unmet medical needs.”
Dr. Klaus Edvardsen, CMO of Epitopea, commented, “It is an honor to lead the formation of this clinical team, and I am thrilled to work with Gertrud and Siri, who both bring invaluable experience and expertise to Epitopea. Their leadership will be crucial as we move forward with our clinical trials and work to bring our transformative cancer immunotherapies to the clinic.”
As part of the research team appointments, Dr. Theres Oakes brings extensive expertise in antigen-directed immuno-oncology through her academic training and prior role at Achilles Therapeutics. Dr. Lisa Smith brings considerable experience in drug discovery and oncology from her previous roles at Kudos Therapeutics, Mission Therapeutics and Benevolent AI.
Dr. Jon Moore, CSO and Co-Founder of Epitopea, commented, “We are harnessing the talents of our existing research team and recent joiners to build world-class cancer immunotherapeutics. To this end, we welcome Lisa to accelerate these efforts. Furthermore, with the translational sciences team we are building around Theres, we will have the capability to assess the performance of our immunotherapeutics in patients with unrivalled precision. It has been a real privilege to be able to build such a strong biology group, and I am very excited to see what impact we can make on the treatment of these devastating diseases.”
About Epitopea
Epitopea is a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies for use in hard-to-treat cancers by targeting a new class of untapped tumor-specific antigens, which are known as Cryptigen™ TSAs, that are broadly shared across multiple patients with the same tumor type.
The company has created an extensive library of novel Cryptigen™ TSAs, discovered by its proprietary CryptoMap™ platform that leverages immunopeptidomics, genomics, and a bioinformatics pipeline, allowing the identification of aberrantly-expressed, tumor-specific antigens (aeTSAs) that are hidden within cancer’s ’junk’ DNA. These hidden Cryptigen™ TSAs were first discovered through research led by Drs. Claude Perreault and Pierre Thibault at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at the Université de Montréal.
Epitopea is backed by leading life science investors including Advent Life Sciences, CTI Life Sciences, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Le Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, Investissement Québec, adMare BioInnovations, Jonathan Milner, the Harrington Discovery Institute, IRICoR and Novateur Ventures. The company has a license and research collaboration with MSD (tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA).
Epitopea was founded in 2021 and consists of sister companies based in Cambridge, UK and in Montreal, Canada. For additional information, please visit www.epitopea.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
For further information
Epitopea
Dr. Alan C. Rigby – CEO
Alan.Rigby@epitopea.com
Scius Communications (for Epitopea)
Katja Stout
+44 7789 435990
katja@sciuscommunications.com
Daniel Gooch
+44 7747 875479
daniel@sciuscommunications.com
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