The new CEO, Stefanos Theoharis, Ph.D., has started at the beginning of February. He succeeds Jorge Alemany, Ph.D., who has served as CEO since the creation of the company in June 2020 and will now retire. Barcelona-based OneChain Immunotherapeutics (OCI) is specialized on the development of CAR T therapies for the treatment of oncologic diseases.

Theoharis brings more than twenty years of experience in the field of cell and gene therapy, business development, program management and manufacturing. His career includes key roles such as Chief Business Officer at Bone Therapeutics, a Belgium-based company specializing in cell therapies for orthopedic disorders, Senior Vice President at Cell Medica, and Chief Business Officer at Apceth Biopharma GmbH. He also held positions as Business Development Director at the antisense RNA drug company Isarna, and Business Development Director at Roche, focused on partnering activities for emerging technologies. Prior to this, he also worked at Lazard, the global investment bank, advising various life sciences companies on M&As and financing transactions. He received his Ph.D. from Imperial College London in 2004, in gene therapy and immunology.

As new CEO, Theoharis plans to focus on aspects such as manufacturing, patient recruitment and market access, and emphasizes the importance of establishing strategic partnerships to advance OCI's projects to the next stage.

Under the leadership of the former CEO Jorge Alemany, Ph.D., OCI has rapidly achieved significant milestones in the field of CAR T therapies. Founded in June 2020 as a spin-off of the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, the OCI reached the clinical stage in less than three years and has strengthened its pipeline with a new allogeneic platform, a second program against hematological tumors and another against solid tumors. In addition, OCI successfully closed a pre-series A funding round just seven months ago, raising €15 million in total, between dilutive and non-dilutive funding.