Press release

Xintela appoints Lucienne Vonk as Chief Scientific Officer

Xintela announces that Lucienne Vonk, previously Director Musculoskeletal Diseases at Xintela, has been appointed Chief Scientific Officer. She takes over the role from the CEO Evy Lundgren-Åkerlund.

“Lucienne Vonk joined Xintela about 1,5 years ago and has already made a great contribution to the development of our stem cell product XSTEM. Lucienne has extensive experience in cell-based therapies including both preclinical and clinical development and she has a broad and valuable international network in the field of musculoskeletal diseases. I am very pleased to hand over the CSO role to Lucienne and really look forward to continue developing Xintela together with her. It also allows me to spend more time on our subsidiary Targinta”, says Evy Lundgren-Åkerlund.

Lucienne Vonk has a strong background in cell-based therapies for cartilage regeneration, both in academic and industry settings. She obtained her PhD at the Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam (The Netherlands) investigating cartilage tissue engineering, after which she joined the department of Orthopaedics at the University Medical Center Utrecht (The Netherlands). There, her research focused on biological and cell-based therapies for cartilage regeneration, and she was part of a team that developed a one-stage cell-based treatment for focal articular cartilage defects. She also headed the Scientific Liaison department at CO.DON AG (Germany). She has held several positions on standing committees of the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society (ICRS) and is senior associate editor for the Journal of Cartilage & Joint Preservation.

“I am very honoured and excited to take over the role of CSO at Xintela. Since joining Xintela, I have been very impressed by the Company’s technology and the skills and expertise of the team. This role allows me to further expand my passion for safe and effective stem cell therapies. I look forward to contributing to the continued development of Xintela and the Company’s stem cell-based products, from this position”, says Lucienne Vonk.

About Xintela

Xintela develops medical products in stem cell therapy and targeted cancer therapy based on the Company's cell surface marker integrin α10β1 which is found on mesenchymal stem cells and on certain aggressive cancer cells. The stem cell marker is used to select and quality-assure the patent-protected stem cell product XSTEM®, which is in clinical development for treatment of knee osteoarthritis and difficult-to-heal leg ulcers. The company produces XSTEM for the clinical studies in its GMP-approved manufacturing facility. In cancer therapy, which is run by the wholly owned subsidiary Targinta AB, therapeutic antibodies, targeting integrin α10β1 (First-in-Class) are being developed for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer and the brain tumor glioblastoma. Xintela conducts its business at Medicon Village in Lund, Sweden, and is listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Stockholm since 22 March 2016. Xintela's Certified Adviser is Carnegie Investment Bank AB (publ).