Robert Hollingsworth, PhD, a former Pfizer executive who oversaw the development of cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics, has taken on the role of the CSO at Shoreline Biosciences.
Robert Hollingsworth, Ph.D., a former Pfizer executive who oversaw the development of cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics, has taken on the role of the chief scientific officer at Shoreline Biosciences.
Hollingsworth will be responsible for driving the development of Shoreline’s next-generation cellular immunotherapies based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The company’s drug candidates are being developed with Shoreline’s iPSC-derived natural killer cell and macrophage platforms.
Hollingsworth said Shoreline is positioned to be a disruptor company in the cell immunotherapy field. He expressed his excitement at joining the company at a time Shoreline “is starting to demonstrate the potential of its iNK and iMACs technology platforms.”
“I look forward to creating meaningful new therapies to significantly improve the lives of patients with cancer,” Hollingsworth said in a statement.
Before joining Shoreline, Hollingsworth served as CSO and vice president of cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics at Pfizer. There, he was responsible for the development of five different candidates. Before Pfizer, Hollingsworth was senior director of oncology research at MedImmune (part of AstraZeneca), where he advanced multiple oncology programs, including a CAR-T program in partnership with Juno Therapeutics. He also contributed to the development of AstraZeneca’s checkpoint inhibitor, Imfinzi. Before MedImmune, Hollingsworth held R&D roles at GlaxoSmithKline, where he earned the GSK Great Science Award, Pharmacia and Upjohn.
Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, PhD, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Shoreline, touted Hollingsworth’s capabilities. Xanthopoulos called him a proven R&D oncology leader who will be able to drive innovation across the company’s iNK and iMACs platforms “through his deep understanding of cancer biology and cell-based immunotherapies.” Xanthopoulos added that Hollingsworth would use the skills he’s gained over the past 25 years to drive Shoreline’s programs into clinical testing.
Hollingsworth is the latest seasoned veteran to join Shoreline’s R&D team. Last month, the company tapped Indaptus Therapeutics veteran Lisa Melia as vice president of clinical operations. Pinky Doshi, the former senior director of regulatory at Bristol Myers Squibb, was named vice president of regulatory affairs. The third hire was Paschalis Sideras, who was tapped as vice president of discovery immunobiology. Before Shoreline, Sidaras served as director of the Centre for Clinical, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Biomedical Research Foundation at the Academy of Athens.
Not only has Shoreline bolstered its leadership team, but the company also closed out 2021 with $140 million in financing to support the development of its pipeline. That financing round followed two partnerships the company forged in the summer of 2021 that have a combined value of $4 billion. The company entered into collaborations with Kite Pharmaceuticals and BeiGene. The Kite partnership will initially focus on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) NK targets, while the BeiGene deal pairs Shoreline’s iPSC NK cells with BeiGene’s discovery and clinical development expertise.
