(Oxford, England, 27 January 2025) Yellowstone Biosciences Limited (“Yellowstone” or the “Company”), a pioneer of soluble bispecific T-cell receptor (TCR)-based therapies for human leukocyte antigen Class II (“HLA Class II”) targets in oncology with a focus on the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia (“AML”) and a range of solid organ cancers, today announces that Dr. Ita O’Kelly has joined the Company as Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Leadership Team.
Ita brings with her almost 10 years of experience in the biotech industry across multiple functions spanning R&D to commercial, with her most recent role being Executive Director Product Management - Global Medicines Lead (KIMMTRAK) at Immunocore. Prior to this role, Ita held a variety of senior positions at Immunocore including Senior Director / Head of Portfolio & Alliance Management and Head of Research Operations. Ita started her biotech career at Adaptimmune where she established the Research management function. Ita had an accomplished academic career before joining the biotech industry, including roles at Yale University (US), McMaster University (Can), the University of Manchester (where she held a prestigious Leverhulme trust fellowship) and the University of Southampton (where she was an Associate Professor). She holds an PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Leeds and a BSc in Physiology from the University of Galway.
"I am delighted to welcome Ita to the Leadership team," said Neil Johnston, Executive Chair of Yellowstone. “Having gained significant experience in developing and commercialising soluble TCR therapeutics, her deep understanding of our scientific approach will be invaluable to Yellowstone as we embark on our mission to transform outcomes for patients with AML and other cancers.”
“I look forward to working closely with Ita in her COO role and benefitting from her rigorous programme management expertise which will enhance our ability to execute our corporate plans,” said Prof. Paresh Vyas, Co-Founder and CSO of Yellowstone.
"I am excited to take on this leadership role at a biotech company with such strong potential," said Ita O’Kelly, Yellowstone's newly appointed COO. "I look forward to partnering with the other members of the Leadership Team and Board to enable Yellowstone to advance its groundbreaking HLA Class II therapeutics to the clinic and beyond."
ENDS
Yellowstone Biosciences Contacts:
Paresh Vyas, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
Julian Hirst, Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer
Email:
enquiries@yellowstonebio.com
About Yellowstone Biosciences
Spun out of the University of Oxford with the support of Oxford University Innovation (OUI) and funded by Syncona Limited, Yellowstone is built around the pioneering research of Professor Paresh Vyas, a world-renowned scientific academic, key opinion leader and practising clinician with a specialist focus on AML. Over 20 years, Prof. Vyas’ laboratory has collected a proprietary biobank of over 10,000 samples from over 3,000 AML patients, including a rare cohort of patients cured by allogeneic blood cell transplantation. From this cohort a novel set of frequently expressed peptide antigens presented by HLA Class II were identified, which could unlock a new class of highly selective cancer therapeutics.