PDC*line Pharma welcomes Channa Debruyne as medical director

French Blood Bank biotech spin-out PDC*line Pharma today announced that Dr Channa Debruyne joined the company in August as medical director, to lead the clinical research team.

A seasoned expert in clinical and scientific research into chemotherapeutic products and cancer vaccines, Dr Debruyne will take over the management of the ongoing trial in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The objectives of the Phase I/II study (PDC-LUNG-101) are to assess safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and preliminary clinical activity of the drug candidate, PDC*lung01, associated or not with anti-PD-1 treatment in NSCLC. A total of 66 evaluable HLA-A*02:01 positive NSCLC patients will be included in the study at three clinical centers in Belgium and six sites in France. PDC*line Pharma obtained authorizations to start the trial in both countries in second-half 2019.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr Channa Debruyne, who will play a key role in the development of PDC*line Pharma’s clinical plan. She has the experience and expertise we are looking for to strengthen our management team,” said Eric Halioua, president and chief executive at PDC*line Pharma.

Dr Debruyne is a Belgian board-certified medical doctor and specialist in pharmaceutical medicine. She started her career at the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) as medical advisor and monitor for the Lung and the Head and Neck Cancer Collaborative group. From 1994 until 2002, she supported the collaborative groups in the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of large phase II and phase III international clinical trials (including some registration trials). In addition, she was involved in the coordination, training and monitoring of Clinical Research Associates. She then moved to the UK and worked at the European Medical Agency (EMA) as scientific evaluator in the orphan drug sector for almost five years. In 2017, she joined the University Hospital in Leuven as director of the Clinical Trial Center.

In March 2019, the company granted an exclusive license to LG Chem Life Sciences Company in South Korea and an exclusive option in other Asian countries, for the development and commercialization of the PDC*lung01 cancer vaccine for lung cancer. The total deal value is worth 108 million euros ($123 million), plus tiered royalties on net sales in Asia.