RPTR-147

Flagship launched Repertoire Immune Medicines in 2020 after merging together Cogen Immune Medicines and ​​Torque Therapeutics. Less than three years into its existence, Repertoire Immune Medicines is completely overhauling the company, axing its top two assets, replacing its CEO and cutting almost half of its staff.  It’s a top-down restructuring for the Flagship-founded biotech that has come to light after Fierce Biotech reported Friday that the company laid off 45% of its staff the week before. At the time, the company did not disclose further details about what precipitated the layoffs. But now we know.  Repertoire halted phase 1 trials of its top two assets, RPTR-147 and RPTR-168, in October, according to an update released Monday. The two autologous cell therapies were being tested in HPV-positive tumors, but the company said initial data showed little effect. Repertoire will apply the findings to other programs focused on solid tumors, the company said in the release, in which it also publicly disclosed that it had reduced its staff.  The pipeline shake-up has also affected the company's top brass, with founding CEO John Cox heading for the exit as well. Replacing him is Torben Straight Nissen, a former Pfizer strategy executive who joined Flagship Pioneering in 2016 as a senior partner and president of Rubius Therapeutics, another Flagship venture that’s on life support.  Last Wednesday, Rubius disclosed that CEO Pablo Cagnoni and Chief Financial Officer Pepe Carmona were departing as the company geared up for a sale. As a result, the company shaved its staff by 82%, keeping just a bare-bones team. Cagnoni was simultaneously elevated to chairman of the board, but Flagship founder Noubar Afeyan departed. Cagnoni is also listed as a member of Repertoire's board.  Nissen will be tasked with steering Repertoire toward a different fate, however, with Chairman Doug Cole, M.D., giving his stamp of approval in the company’s release.  “His significant experience leading and shaping platform-based biotech companies makes him well-positioned to drive Repertoire forward toward unlocking the potential of its DECODE platform,” Cole said. Atop Nissen’s early to-do list will be completing the search for a permanent chief medical officer after Theodore Reiss, M.D., left in May. The former Celgene exec bolted after less than a year at the company and has been replaced by David Spriggs, M.D., Ph.D., on an interim basis.  Repertoire is focusing on a suite of therapies using the aforementioned platform which looks to uncover new targets focused on the relationship between T-cell receptors and the epitopes they recognize. The company hopes to aim the platform at developing new treatments for cancer along with autoimmune and infectious diseases. This company still has a preclinical cell therapy in its pipeline aimed at both IL-15 and IL-12 in addition to an injectable T-cell-targeted cytokine therapy focused on IL-12.  Repertoire launched in March 2020 after Flagship merged together Cogen Immune Medicines and ​​Torque Therapeutics. Cox, CEO of Torque at the time, was tapped to lead the joint operation.  A year later, hype around the company began to snowball, underscored by a $189 million series B closed in April 2021 and Reiss’ hiring a couple of months later. In September 2021, Repertoire was named to Fierce Biotech’s Fierce 15 list. Editor's note: This story was updated with additional editorial from a Repertoire press release issued Monday. 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Repertoire® Immune Medicines announced today that Torben Straight Nissen has been appointed as interim Chief Executive Officer, succeeding John Cox, who will continue with the company in an advisory role. With more than two decades of leadership experience, Straight Nissen joins the company as it shifts its resources and operations to focus primarily on unlocking the potential of Repertoire’s DECODE™ Platform to develop transformative immune medicines against novel immune targets in cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infectious disease. “ I want to thank John for his leadership and vision for harnessing the potential of the immune repertoire to develop new medicines,” said Doug Cole, M.D., Chairman, Repertoire and Managing Partner, Flagship Pioneering. “ As the first CEO of Repertoire, John established the company to deliver novel immune medicines to patients, and we will continue to build upon this bold ambition.” Cole continued, “ We welcome Torben as the next CEO of Repertoire. His significant experience leading and shaping platform-based biotech companies makes him well-positioned to drive Repertoire forward toward unlocking the potential of its DECODE platform.” “ Repertoire has applied its proprietary DECODE platform to develop an unprecedented and unique understanding of the immune synapse. I am energized by the opportunity to leverage Repertoire’s powerful platform to develop novel and highly selective immune-based medicines for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infectious disease,” said Straight Nissen. “ I look forward to working with Repertoire’s impressive team to provide new and important therapies for patients with these diseases.” “ The mission of Repertoire is to discover the immune codes that drive cellular immunity and to use those codes to create new immune medicines,” said Cox. “ Our recent discoveries of novel epitopes and T cell receptors in cancer and autoimmune diseases demonstrate the promise of the platform that we built. I am grateful to each member of the Repertoire team for making these advancements possible, and to the leadership team that built this company. I look forward to seeing Repertoire continue its mission to create a new class of immune medicines under Torben’s leadership.” About Torben Straight Nissen Torben Straight Nissen is a senior partner at Flagship Pioneering, contributing to Flagship’s strategic and operational objectives, including the origination of new Flagship Labs companies. He is an experienced biotech entrepreneur and has been a member of Flagship’s ecosystem since first joining as President of Rubius Therapeutics in 2016. Prior to joining Flagship, Straight Nissen was at Pfizer where he led Strategic Portfolio Management for the company’s worldwide R&D organization and oversaw a portfolio spanning from discovery to Phase 2 across all major therapeutic areas. He has held leadership positions in multiple biotech companies, including Ascendis Pharma and Maxygen. Straight Nissen currently serves on the board of Axcella Health and is the founding CEO of FL84. He is also a co-author or co-inventor of over 100 publications and published patents. Company Update In October, the company stopped Phase 1 clinical studies of its autologous multi-targeted T cell therapeutic candidates, RPTR-147 and RPTR-168 in human papillomavirus (HPV) positive tumors. This followed an assessment of recent data which showed that while stable disease was observed in a small group of patients, this effect was limited and does not support advancing these programs. The company plans to apply the translational insights from these studies to inform its ongoing development of novel treatments for solid tumors. These changes reposition the company as a pre-clinical organization with reduced operational needs, and as a result, the company reduced its staff earlier this month. Going forward, Repertoire will focus on unlocking the potential of its proprietary DECODE platform to develop transformative medicines against novel immune targets in cancer, autoimmune disorders and infectious disease. About the DECODE™ Platform The DECODE platform is a powerful discovery engine that characterizes essential elements of the immune synapse. In particular, the platform identifies T cell receptor-antigen pairs in the context of other important features of the immune synapse, such as T cell function and how antigens are presented by molecules on antigen-presenting cells, known as major human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, molecules. Repertoire intends to utilize these insights into key drivers that govern immune function to design and develop novel immune product candidates. About Repertoire® Immune Medicines Repertoire Immune Medicines is a biotechnology company dedicated to creating treatments for diseases based on the power of the human T cell repertoire to eliminate cancer cells, target pathogens and regulate immune function in autoimmune disease. Our proprietary DECODE TM platform is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the full repertoire of interactions between T cell receptors and their antigen targets that take place when diseased cells are present. This complex and intricate biological process is known as the immune synapse. We believe the ability to decode these interactions represents one of the greatest opportunities for innovation in medical science. Utilizing our DECODE platform, our goal is to identify the specific T cell-antigen pairs that provide immune surveillance in cancer, generate memory responses to pathogens, and those that cause tissue damage in autoimmune disease. Repertoire was founded in 2019 by Flagship Pioneering. Its team operates from sites in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Zurich, Switzerland and uses its DECODE technology to rationally design treatments for cancers, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases. To learn more about Repertoire, please visit our website: www.repertoire.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter .