Aurealis Therapeutics, a synthetic biology company developing multi-targeting, scalable, low cost of goods cell and gene therapies for high unmet medical needs, is proud to announce the appointment of Hanna P. Lesch, PhD, as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Dr. Lesch brings over two decades of world-class expertise in gene and cell therapy manufacturing, viral vector technologies, mRNA platforms, and the scaling of complex manufacturing processes from discovery towards the commercial launch.
Dr. Lesch joins Aurealis after a distinguished tenure as CTO at Exothera in Belgium, leading technology development and CMC strategy within a CDMO setting. Her extensive leadership background includes senior roles at the Kuopio Center for Gene and Cell Therapy (KCT), FinVector, and FKD Therapies. Notably, she played a pivotal role in the upstream manufacturing scale-up for Adstiladrin®, the first gene therapy approved for bladder cancer. Dr. Lesch holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine and has completed postdoctoral research at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and University of Eastern Finland.
“We are thrilled to welcome Hanna to our leadership team at such a transformative time for Aurealis,” said Juha Yrjänheikki, CEO of Aurealis Therapeutics. “Hanna’s deep-rooted experience in gene therapy GMP manufacturing and her proven track record in navigating evolving regulatory frameworks are invaluable assets. Her technical brilliance and ‘adventure mindset’ will be instrumental as we prepare for AUP-16 global Phase-3 study and expansion of our Oncology program with AUP-55.”
“I am incredibly excited to join the visionary team at Aurealis Therapeutics,” said Hanna P. Lesch, PhD. “The company’s ability to create highly scalable multi-targeting therapies for chronic wounds and cancer offers a unique opportunity to address high unmet medical needs. I’m particularly excited to work with a platform that can genuinely compete with existing vector systems by enabling simpler, far more cost-efficient manufacturing. I look forward to applying my experience in scalable manufacturing and innovation to accelerate the company expansion and ensure AUP-16 and AUP-55 benefit millions of patients in the future.”
About AUP-16
AUP-16 is a genetically engineered Lactococcus Cremoris, a non-pathogenic, probiotic bacteria, expressing human basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2, bFGF), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and macrophage colony stimulating factor (CSF-1, mCSF) – all in one product and accepted as one active pharmaceutical ingredient from regulatory perspective. AUP-16 is topically applied on chronic wounds and covered by wound dressing (e.g. in diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers or other ulcer types). In the wound AUP-16 acts as millions of bioreactors producing the therapeutic proteins, which are designed to i) halt chronic inflammation in the wound, ii) induce growth of new blood vessels, and iii) promote granulation tissue formation and skin re-epithelization – all in one product. Following successful completion of “DIAMEND” Phase-2 clinical study, we are now preparing
AUP-16 global Phase-3 pivotal study in non-healing Diabetic Foot Ulcers.
About Aurealis Therapeutics
Aurealis Therapeutics AG is a Swiss-Finnish clinical-stage company developing scalable and low COGS multi-target cell and gene therapies allowing to modulate tissue microenvironment and tackle complex multi-factorial diseases such as chronic wounds, cancers, and inflammation. Aurealis modular gene therapy platform consists of non-pathogenic lactic acid bacterium Lactococcus cremoris, genetically engineered to produce and release multiple human therapeutic proteins in the body: cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, antibody fragments. These living bacterium act as millions of nanoscale bioreactors at the site of the disease, allowing multi-targeting as one product, to treat multifactorial diseases. Aurealis pipeline includes Chronic Wounds (AUP-16, ongoing Phase 2), Oncology (AUP-55, pre-clinical stage), Inflammation (AUP-60, discovery stage).
For more information:
Laurent Décory, COO
Email: laurent@aurealistherapeutics.com