Infinitopes, a biotechnology company developing novel and precision immunotherapy, has announced the appointment of Jo Brewer, PhD, as chief scientific officer and interim chief operating officer.
Dr Brewer, a pioneer and recognised industry leader in cancer immunotherapy and cell therapies, has served as a non-executive director (NED) of the company since March 2025, now joining the executive leadership team at a key inflection point in the company’s growth.
The appointment follows the start of the VISTA trial at the end of last year: a first-in-human, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled Phase I/IIa clinical trial of ITOP1, Infinitopes’ leading precision therapeutic vaccine, designed to prevent the recurrence of oesophageal cancer in the first line, neoadjuvant setting; an area where clinical need remains largely unmet.
ITOP1 is a next-generation off-the-shelf cancer vaccine using the company’s proprietary vector technology to induce potent T-cell responses in patients suffering from surgically resectable oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC).
With 20 years of experience in advancing therapies from early-stage discovery to commercialisation, Dr. Brewer joins Infinitopes from Adaptimmune, where she was a founding scientist and served as CSO. Jo was instrumental in the development of Tecelra, the first engineered TCR-T cell therapy for solid tumours to reach the market.
Commenting on her new, permanent, role as CSO at Infinitopes, Jo said: “This is a really exciting moment in Infinitopes’ innovation journey, where cutting-edge science transitions from lab into the clinical realm.
“I have always been passionate about shepherding science from ‘bench-to-bedside’ and am excited by the ITOP1 product development programme and its potential to revolutionise first line treatment for those living with cancer.
“I am thrilled to join at this critical clinical stage in the company’s development.
“’ll be tapping into the full breadth and depth of my experience to build on the critical work of the co-founders Jonathan Kwok, Senthil Chinnakannan and Lian Ni Lee, helping them to drive their vision to the next level.”
Dan Menichella, who recently took up the position of interim CEO of Infinitopes from his role as NED, added: “Not only does Jo have hands-on experience successfully transitioning a candidate from concept to market, but she’s also adept at steering growth in scaling organisations in a sustainable way.
“We’re delighted to have her join us on a permanent basis at this point in our innovation journey.”
Jo Brewer and Dan Menichella’s appointments enable co-founding CEO Dr Jonathan Kwok to transition to Infinitopes’ president & chief medical officer, with a focus on guiding Infinitopes’ strategy and clinical development, leading execution of the VISTA trial and AI business technologies.
Together these appointments will help drive the next exciting chapter in Infinitopes’ development story.
In January this year, the company announced the successful extension of its seed financing round, securing an additional US$15.4 million to bring the total raised to US$35.1 million.
