Asgard Therapeutics Appoints Veteran Oncologist as CMO to Advance Novel Cancer Immunotherapy AT-108
核心洞察
Asgard Therapeutics (搜索) has appointed Professor Dr. Wolfram Brugger as Chief Medical Officer to lead the clinical development of AT-108, a first-in-class gene therapy.
AT-108 represents a breakthrough "personalized off-the-shelf" immunotherapy that reprograms tumor cells into dendritic cells to trigger personalized immune responses against cancer (搜索).
Dr. Brugger brings extensive experience from over 130 Phase I-III oncology trials and successful drug development programs at AstraZeneca, MorphoSys, and Autolus Therapeutics.
Asgard Therapeutics (搜索) has appointed Professor Dr. Wolfram Brugger as Chief Medical Officer to spearhead the clinical development of its lead asset AT-108, a transformative cancer (搜索) immunotherapy that combines personalized treatment with off-the-shelf accessibility. The appointment comes as the Swedish biotech company advances IND-enabling studies for this first-in-class gene therapy.
Veteran Oncologist Joins Leadership Team
Dr. Brugger brings extensive clinical development expertise, having been involved in more than 130 Phase I-III clinical oncology trials across numerous cancer (搜索) types, including solid tumors. His appointment strengthens Asgard's leadership as it prepares to transition from a preclinical to clinical-stage biotechnology company.
"Strengthening our leadership team with Wolfram, who is such a highly experienced clinical trials expert and practicing medical oncologist, is a privilege and we are excited to welcome him on board," said Cristiana Pires, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Asgard Therapeutics (搜索). "Wolfram's proven capabilities and track record will ensure that Asgard is perfectly positioned as we advance AT-108 towards the clinic."
Proven Track Record in Oncology Drug Development
Dr. Brugger joins Asgard from NASDAQ-listed Autolus Therapeutics, where he led the global clinical development program of AUTO1 (AUCATZYL® / obe-cel), an autologous CD19 (搜索) CAR T therapy. AUTO1 received FDA approval in 2024 for relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (搜索) (B-ALL) and conditional approval from the EMA and MHRA in 2025.
Prior to Autolus, he headed the global clinical development program for the monoclonal antibody tafasitamab at MorphoSys across various blood cancer (搜索) indications. Tafasitamab, in combination with lenalidomide, received accelerated FDA approval for relapsed/refractory DLBCL (搜索) in 2020 and conditional EMA approval in 2021. At AstraZeneca, he served as global medical lead for Phase I/early Phase II trials for several oncology assets, including combination studies with checkpoint inhibitors.
Revolutionary Approach to Cancer Immunotherapy
AT-108 represents a novel approach to cancer (搜索) treatment, functioning as an off-the-shelf gene therapy that directly reprograms tumor cells into conventional dendritic cells type 1 (搜索) (cDC1 cells (搜索)), a rare subset critical for mounting efficient cytotoxic T cell responses. This reprogramming forces tumor cells to present their antigens, ultimately leading to a personalized anti-tumor immune response.
The therapy utilizes a replication-deficient adenoviral vector that delivers three proprietary reprogramming factors into tumor cells, rewiring their gene expression signatures to transform them into antigen-presenting cDC1-like cells. This innovative mechanism allows for personalized treatment despite being an off-the-shelf product.
"I've always been driven by bringing new modalities to patients, and I am excited to be developing a 'personalized off-the-shelf' immunotherapy which has great potential to help patients with a wide variety of cancers," said Dr. Brugger. "Asgard's in vivo cell reprogramming technology has transformative potential, and the pre-clinical proof-of-concept data, both published and upcoming data to be presented at key scientific conferences, is highly convincing."
Clinical Development Pathway
Asgard is currently focused on advancing IND-enabling studies and CMC activities to support clinical development of AT-108. Key proof-of-concept data on AT-108 were published in 2024 in the peer-reviewed journal Science, providing strong scientific validation for the approach.
The company is backed by prominent investors including Novo Holdings (搜索), Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (搜索), Industrifonden, RV Invest, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., positioning it well for the transition to clinical development.
Dr. Brugger, who holds an MD and PhD from Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg and Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen, Germany, previously served as Chief & Medical Director in the Department of Hematology, Oncology, Immunology & Infectious Diseases at a Teaching Hospital of Freiburg University. His specialist registration covers Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology, and Hematology.